Evaluation of the effects of patient-selected music therapy on the sleep quality and pain intensity of burn patients

Background: Sleep disturbances and pain are some of the most common problems among burn patients, which have adverse effects on recovery process and patient comfort. Given the use of music as a non-pharmacological approach to alleviate pain and provide comfort, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of patient-selected music on sleep quality and pain intensity in burn patients.

Methods: This clinical trial was conducted on burn patients hospitalized in one of the hospitals of Tehran, Iran in 2015. In total, 50 patients were selected using randomized convenience sampling and divided into two intervention (n=25) and control (n=25) groups. Intervention was carried out for the intervention group through playing instrumental music, selected by the patients, in three consecutive 45-minute sessions before sleep. Severity of pain in the participants was evaluated for three nights (before and five minutes after the intervention) using visual analog scale (VAS). In addition, sleep quality of the samples was assessed three days before the intervention using Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and during the post-intervention days through interviews. The mentioned scales were applied for the control group as well. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 18 using Chi-square, as well as paired and independent t-tests.

Results: In this study, a significant improvement was observed in sleep quality (P<0.001) and pain intensity (P=0.012) in the participants of intervention group after listening to music. Moreover, a significant difference was observed between the study groups after the intervention in terms of mean sleep quality score (P<0.001) and pain intensity (P=0.046).

Conclusion: According to the results of this study, application of patient-selected music therapy could be associated with a significant improve in sleep quality and decrease in pain intensity in burn patients. Therefore, it is recommended that this intervention approach be applied by healthcare providers and nurses.