Using heart rate variability analysis to assess the effect of music therapy on anxiety reduction of patients

Music therapy has been considered to reduce the anxiety of patients, but the mechanism of music therapy remains to be investigated. Psychophysiological researchers have revealed that the autonomic activities relate to the anxiety. Heart rate variability (HRV) analysis has been used to assess the autonomic activities hence it may be a useful tool for evaluate the effects of music therapy on anxiety reduction of patients. In this study, we attempted using HRV analysis to display the effect of music therapy on autonomic balance. 68 patients attending extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) were included, among them 34 patients (music therapy group) were randomly selected to undergo a music therapy (listening to a natural music) to reduce their anxiety for upcoming operation, the rest patients were be the control group. The short-term (5 minutes) HRV parameters of all patients before and undergoing music therapy were computed. The results revealed that the standard deviation of RR intervals (SDRR) and high frequency spectral power (HF power) of HRV significantly increased in the music therapy group while they did not change in the control group. Since SDRR and HF power of HR V are considered as markers for vagal activities music therapy seems to increase the vagal activity of patients. This study demonstrated that listening to the music has the influences on autonomic control. Using HRV analysis can help evaluating the effects of music therapy.