Music therapy in reducing dementia-associated agitation

Abstract

Overview of the topic: Dementia is the term used to describe an individual who is experiencing cognitive decline, memory loss, and has a negative toll on activities of daily living. Unfortunately, in the later stages of dementia, severe behavioural and psychological symptoms arise such as agitation. Pharmacological interventions and prescribing medication such antipsychotics for agitation, have adverse and sometimes severe side effects. The use of non-pharmacological interventions such as music therapy could benefit the individual and should be used as a first-line treatment, hence the need for more extensive research on music therapy’s effect on reducing agitation should be conducted in order to improve one’s quality of life. Research Question: Does music therapy as opposed to routine care with general activities help decrease agitation in patients with dementia? PICO elements: Population (P): Individuals with Dementia. Intervention (I): Music Therapy. Comparison (C): Routine Care. Outcome (O): Reduction in Agitation. Methods of Appraisal used: Key terms for the PICO elements were implemented in search tools. Ten databases were used and limiters were then applied in each search. Moreover, The Prisma Flow Diagram presented the whole research process. This included the removal of irrelevant articles according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The research process resulted in two systematic review and meta-analysis and five randomised controlled trials. For the appraisal, The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) was employed. Results and conclusions: Most studies showed statistically significant results in favour of music therapy. Even though there were minor methodological inconsistencies, studies reported a decrease in agitation with a lingering effect. Thus, music therapy deems to be of a benefit in general. Implications and recommendations: Further research needs to be conducted on this topic to determine whether music therapy has long-term effects and specifically what type of music therapy (i.e., group vs individual) is most beneficial. In order to implement the intervention, awareness on this must be brought to nurses and the general population so that they can be trained and have better knowledge on non-pharmacological interventions along with infrastructure, equipment and financial support. For this awareness to be brought about, there needs to be secure and robust evidence-based practice hence why follow-ups of the intervention are recommended.