Abstract
BackgroundMusic has been shown to improve health and quality of life. It was suggested that music may also have an impact on gait stability and fall risk. Yet, few studies have exploited music in the hospital setting, and even less so in the geriatric population. Our objective was to examine the influence of music listening on the risk of falls by comparing the Morse Fall Scale score in patients admitted to a Geriatric Assessment Unit (GAU) who attended music listening sessions and in patients who did not attend music sessions.MethodsThis was a retrospective cohort study (mean follow-up 13.3 ± 6.8 days) which took place in a GAU, St. Mary’s Hospital Center, Montreal. A total of 152 charts of participants, with a mean age of 85.7 ± 6.4 years and 88.2% female were reviewed and included. There were 61 participants exposed to the music listening sessions group and 91 in the non-exposed group matched for age, sex, cause and season of admission, and living situation. One-hour music sessions were provided to the patients by volunteer musicians. The Morse Fall Scale score upon admission and discharge as well as its variation (change from before to after exposure) were used as outcomes. Age, sex, living situation, reason for admission, season of admission, Mini Mental Status Examination score, number of therapeutic classes taken daily upon admission, use of psychoactive drugs upon admission and length of stay were used as covariates.ResultsThe Morse Fall Scale score decreased significantly in the exposed group compared to the non-exposed group (p = 0.025) and represented a small to medium-sized effect, d = 0.395. The multiple linear regression model showed a significant association between the decrease of the Morse Fall Scale score and music exposure (B = − 17.1, p = 0.043).ConclusionParticipating in music listening sessions was associated with a decreased risk of falls in patients admitted to a GAU. Further controlled research is necessary to confirm these findings and to determine the mechanisms by which music listening impacts fall risk.Trial registrationClinical trial registry: ClinicalTrials.gov. Registration number: NCT03348657 (November 17th, 2017). Retrospectively registered.
Highlights
Music has been shown to improve health and quality of life
This study aimed to examine the influence of music listening on the risk of falls in patients admitted to a Geriatric Assessment Unit (GAU) by comparing the Morse Fall Scale (MFS) score in patients who attended music listening sessions and in patients who did not attend these music sessions
There was a significant reduction in the MFS score in the exposed group to music listening sessions compared to the non-exposed group, indicating a decreased risk of falls
Summary
Music has been shown to improve health and quality of life. Few studies have exploited music in the hospital setting, and even less so in the geriatric population. Music therapy has long been used to improve communication, health and quality of life. Music listening has been shown to decrease depressive symptoms [11,12,13,14,15] and neuropsychiatric symptoms such as agitation and anxiety [9, 16]. The use of music is recommended by national guidelines to control the behavioural symptoms of patients in long-term care facilities [17]. Despite the demonstrated positive benefits of music for health and behavioural outcomes, very few studies using music have been performed in the hospital environment and even fewer on short-stay geriatric units
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