The Effect of Music During Chemotherapy

Purpose: Chemotherapy treatment is a very different and difficult process. Considering the many physiological and psychological problems that patients experience during and after the treatment process, chemotherapy symptoms and psychological problems affect the quality of life of patients. Along with the burden of the disease, patients who experience physiological problems during chemotherapy may experience depression, stress, and anxiety. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effect of music played during chemotherapy on depression, anxiety, stress levels, and chemotherapy symptoms. Method: This study was conducted in a randomized controlled manner with a pretest-posttest control group random design model. The study population consisted of patients receiving treatment in the outpatient chemotherapy unit of Maltepe University Faculty of Medicine Hospital. The study sample consisted of 49 patients who met the inclusion criteria. The power analysis determined that the sample number was 42 people in total, 21 in the experimental group and 21 in the control group. However, considering the data losses, it was decided that the number would be 25 experimental and 25 control. When one patient from the experimental group did not want to continue, the study was completed with 49 patients, 24 in the experimental group and 25 in the control group. The music recital will be applied 4 times in total, once a week, until the patients complete 1 cycle, i.e. 4 sessions. Patients in the experimental group were administered the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS -42) and Edmonton Symptom Diagnostic Scale (ESDS) before each session until the completion of one cycle, and music was played for 20-25 minutes during chemotherapy. After chemotherapy, the scales were applied again. In the control group, the scales were applied before chemotherapy treatment, no intervention was made during chemotherapy and the scales were applied again after chemotherapy.