STM Article Repository

Introduction: Ischaemic heart disease is the number one cause of deaths in the world. As these patients experience severe distress due to a number of associated reasons, it is important to focus on both physiological and psychological needs of the patients in the management. Beyond the standard medical and surgical treatments, relaxation therapies such as relaxing music have been identified as having impact in reducing morbidity in ischaemic heart disease. Even though several studies have been conducted to find out the impact of music on pain, anxiety, heart rate and stress associated with myocardial ischaemia, it is hard to find literature on the long-term effects of music on ischaemia. Therefore the effort of this study was to determine the long-term effects of Indian classical music on state of ischaemia in stable angina. Methodology: A single blind randomized clinical trial was conducted on 60 patients of 45 to 65 years of age with stable angina. Intervention group (n = 30) listened to a music based on Indian classical system at home twice a day complementary to their regular treatment for a period of one month. Control group (n = 30) was only on their usual treatment. Both groups were assessed before and one month after the study period for state of ischaemia based on exercise ECG results. Results: Significant improvement in state of ischaemia (p < 0.01) was observed in the intervention group (increase in mean exercise duration by 123 s, the stage at which the test was terminated, maximum metabolic equivalents level achieved by 2.1, the time until 1 mm ST depression by 127.3 s and the time until maximum ST segment depression by 85.9 s and significant reduction in mean maximal ST segment depression by 0.55 mm). But no significant improvement was observed in the control group (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Systematic, regular listening of music based on Indian classical system significantly improved the severity of the state of ischaemia associated with stable angina. Hence music therapy has a potential benefit in considering for use as complementary to angina treatment in reducing morbidity.