Music for Health Outcomes: How to Compose and Select Music for Perioperative Surgical Interventions

Courtney Williams, University, My, Brydie-Leigh Bartleet
2019
This study is an investigation into how to compose and select music for health outcomes in a perioperative setting. Evidence shows that music can positively affect the physiology of a patient, resulting in faster healing and increasing patient comfort. Music interventions frequently attempt to adjust a patient's heart rate, respiration rate, blood pressure, endocrine system, emotional state, and experience of pain. However, currently there are no clear guidelines on selecting or composing music
more » ... for this context. This dissertation directly responds to this current gap in knowledge and literature, by drawing on insights from a mixed method study that addressed the topic through three key phases: (1) a systematic literature review; (2) a practice-led compositional investigation based on insights from Phase 1; and (3) an experimental testing of compositions from Phase 2. A systematic, critical literature review was conducted in Phase 1 of the project to investigate the reasoning and methods behind the selection and implementation of music in surgical interventions. This review examined English-language quantitative surgical intervention studies published within the last ten years, which utilised recorded music as an intervention. The results of this study revealed that there were considerable inconsistencies and lack of scientific rigour regarding music selection in this field. The 'sophistication of the music selection' and the 'sophistication of the method' was calculated for each of the studies reviewed. Scores averaged 3.33/11 and 3.23/13 respectively, and indicated that study sophistication has not improved over the past ten years. The reasons behind this lack of sophistication were numerous. Interventions frequently did not involve music experts, rarely considered participants' music history and listening habits, and often relied on vague and subjective music descriptions. Although five primary theoretical frameworks underlying the effectiveness of music were identified in the literature (distraction, relaxatio [...]
doi:10.25904/1912/1194 fatcat:57iv5kmhnneb3jtvnzwxkm7th4