Just a half an hour of listening to preferred music lowers pain levels in elders with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study in the September 2010 issue of Pain Nursing Management
“Patients with dementia experience
many different health problems,
including memory loss and
behavioral symptoms, but pain is
also a significant health problem,”
says the study’s principal investigator,
Dr. Heeok Park, of Keimyung
University College of Nursing,
South Korea.
For instance, in nursing homes,
estimates suggest that more than
60 percent of residents with dementia
are in pain.
And the actual figure is probably
higher, given that pain is notoriously
difficult to detect when
cognitive impairment is present.
Pain was halved
Park and colleagues studied 15
elders, who participated in eight 30-
minute sessions of music listening
from a CD player.
The researchers found that, at
the end of each session, the pain
experienced by the elders was
significantly lower than before
the session started.
On average, after listening to the
music, pain levels dropped to less
than half – from 1.24 to 0.61, as
measured with the M-PADE tool.
And the effect lasted for 30
minutes after the music stopped
playing.
What music?
“Subjects’ favorite artists included
Elvis Presley, Guy
Lombardo, Louis Armstrong, and
Loretta Lynn,” Park says.
Other favorite artists included
Barbara Streisand, Bing Crosby,
Johnny Cash and Sandy Patty.
In general, the elders “liked
musicians who were close to their
own age, and they preferred those
they had liked when they were
young.”
Right scheduling is crucial
The music sessions started 30
minutes before the time of the day
in which the elders’ agitation – a
common symptom of Alzheimer’s
disease – reached its maximum
level.
So, for example, if an elder’s peak
of agitation was at 5:00 p.m., the
30-minute music session was
scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m.
This ensured that the alleviating
effect of music began when most
needed, as pain is expected to be at
its worse when agitation peaks.
For any age and disease stage
Notably, music appears to have
pain-lowering effects even in the
very old, and in the late stages of
Alzheimer’s.
This was demonstrated by the
fact that the elders involved in
the study were aged up to 100
years, and approximately 74 percent
of them had severely impaired
cognition.
Potential benefit on memory
For some of the elders involved in
the study, music did more than
alleviating pain.
Park recalls an elderly lady with
advanced dementia, who remembered
Guy Lombardo’s songs, although
she couldn’t remember her
family members’ names.
He says: “One day after the study
was completed, the investigator
was invited to watch the Guy Lombardo
show on the TV with her.“On that day, the subject said ‘hi’
and called the investigator’s name
right after the greeting.
The investigator asked her, ‘How
do you remember my name?’ The
subject answered, ‘You brought
me the Guy Lombardo music CD.’
“It was an amazing experience to
the investigator, and the experience
verified the effect of music
not only on pain but also on memory
function.”
Music Tips
Following are recommendations to
ensure the success of the music
intervention, as highlighted in the
study by Park and colleagues.
• Play the songs in the order your
elders want.
• Repeat the same song as many
times as requested.
• If your elders miss a session,
schedule another session at another
time.
• Should your elders wish to listen
to the music at a non-scheduled
time, allow them to do so.