Anxiety, a common reaction in patients receiving ventilation therapy, often impacts negatively on patient recovery. Music therapy, a non-invasion intervention, is readily accepted by patients and has been used to relieve patient anxiety with encouraging results. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of music therapy on reducing anxiety in patients on mechanical ventilators. An experimental design was used and all cases were collected from a medical center in southern Taiwan. While the experimental group patients took a 30-minute music therapy session, control group patients were asked to rest. Both facility anxiety and anxiety visual scales were used as research tools, with other non-invasive medical instruments employed to measure heartbeat and breathing, blood pressure and blood oxygen saturation in both patient groups. When compared with the control group, patients in the experimental group showed significant improvement in sense of anxiety (Brief Anxiety Scale, BAS, t(subscript 29)=-4.80, p<.001; Visual Analogue Anxiety Scales, VAAS, t(subscript 29)=-3.38, p=.002), diastolic pressure (t(subscript 29)=-2.74, p=.002), mean arterial pressure(t(subscript 29)=-2.26, p=.031) and breathing rate (t(subscript 29)=-4.84, p<.001). In analyzing data from the two groups, we found that the sense of anxiety (BAS, t(subscript 58)=-3.21, p=.002; VAAS, t(subscript 58)=-2.90, p=.005) and breathing rate (t(subscript 58)=-3.20, p=.002) in the experimental group decreased significantly following music therapy. Study results are hoped to serve as an important reference for clinical nursing staff. Also, it is hoped that the music therapy method may help facilitate achievement of broader humanized nursing goals.
Anxiety, a common reaction in patients receiving ventilation therapy, often impacts negatively on patient recovery. Music therapy, a non-invasion intervention, is readily accepted by patients and has been used to relieve patient anxiety with encouraging results. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of music therapy on reducing anxiety in patients on mechanical ventilators. An experimental design was used and all cases were collected from a medical center in southern Taiwan. While the experimental group patients took a 30-minute music therapy session, control group patients were asked to rest. Both facility anxiety and anxiety visual scales were used as research tools, with other non-invasive medical instruments employed to measure heartbeat and breathing, blood pressure and blood oxygen saturation in both patient groups. When compared with the control group, patients in the experimental group showed significant improvement in sense of anxiety (Brief Anxiety Scale, BAS, t(subscript 29)=-4.80, p<.001; Visual Analogue Anxiety Scales, VAAS, t(subscript 29)=-3.38, p=.002), diastolic pressure (t(subscript 29)=-2.74, p=.002), mean arterial pressure(t(subscript 29)=-2.26, p=.031) and breathing rate (t(subscript 29)=-4.84, p<.001). In analyzing data from the two groups, we found that the sense of anxiety (BAS, t(subscript 58)=-3.21, p=.002; VAAS, t(subscript 58)=-2.90, p=.005) and breathing rate (t(subscript 58)=-3.20, p=.002) in the experimental group decreased significantly following music therapy. Study results are hoped to serve as an important reference for clinical nursing staff. Also, it is hoped that the music therapy method may help facilitate achievement of broader humanized nursing goals.