Inpatient stroke survivors with low gait functioning benefit from music interventions during cardiorespiratory exercise: A randomized cross-over trial

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Stroke survivors struggle to meet clinical recommendations for physical exercise duration and intensity. During the past two decades, emerging evidence has shown effectiveness of music interventions for several motor tasks in stroke rehabilitation. Additionally, music has been found effective for increasing exercise performance in athletes and clinical populations. It is postulated that the therapeutic effects of music in physical exercise are modulated by preference and task-specificity of the music.

Methods

We tested this hypothesis in a pilot study using a three-arm randomized cross-over design comprising the following auditory conditions during cycle ergometry cardiorespiratory exercise sessions: (a) a group-tailored music playlist, (b) radio music, and (c) a non-music control condition. Participants (n = 19) were inpatient stroke survivors undergoing rehabilitation between 2 and 12 weeks post infarct.

Results

Our results demonstrate that clinical characteristics are an important determinant for identifying patients who can benefit from music. Specifically, participants with a higher level of gait functioning experienced no benefit, whereas participants with a low level of gait functioning showed an increase in both exercise duration (M = 4.46 minutes) and time spent in the recommended heart rate intensity (M = 6.39 and M = 2.49 minutes for the playlist and radio condition, respectively).

Discussion

The findings suggest a beneficial role of music in rehabilitation of stroke patients with low gait functioning. Future studies should ultimately disentangle which musical parameters are more likely to induce the putative ergogenic effects.

Trial registry number: NCT05398575.

KEYWORDS:

• Stroke
• exercise
• music
• aerobic
• inpatient
• cycling

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank The North Denmark Region for hosting this research and facilitating recruitment. Special thanks to Helle Rovsing Møller Jørgensen for her help with clinical supervision and implementation.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/08098131.2023.2190403.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship or publication of this article.

Notes on contributors

Daniel S. Mazhari-Jensen

Daniel Skak Mazhari-Jensen, MA in Music Therapy and Research MSc in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience. Currently PhD student at Aalborg University, Department for Health Science and Technology in the Neural Engineering and Neurophysiology group investigating the neurophysiological substrates of sensory processing anomalies in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Stine Lindahl Jacobsen

Stine Lindahl Jacobsen PhD, Associate Professor, Head of Study Board for Arts, Health & Technology, Head of Music Therapy Knowledge Group, Aalborg University. Head of Northern Region of Arts and Health, Head of International Consortium of Music Therapy. Assessment of Parent-Child Interaction (APCI) developer, researcher & trainer. Clinical & research areas mainly include arts & health, families at risk, child protection, intervention studies, and music therapy assessment.

Kira Vibe Jespersen

Kira Vibe Jespersen PhD, MSc in psychology with an additional BA in Music Therapy. Currently Assistant Professor at the Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University. Main research areas include clinical applications of music investigating both the effects of music and the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms.