An Evaluation of the Effect of Group Music Therapy on Stress, Anxiety, and Depression Levels in Nursing Home Residents

A randomized controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of music therapy on stress, anxiety, and depression levels of a group of the elderly who resided in a nursing home. The intervention group received 10 weeks of daily music-based sessions (each 90 minutes) including listening to music, singing and playing percussion instruments, while the control group (no music) received daily regular activities. The 21- item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale was used as a pre-and post-intervention measure in each group. Differences in pre- and post-intervention scores indicated significant reductions in mean scores of anxiety (P = .004), stress (P = .001), and depression (P < .001) in the intervention group as compared with the control group (no music).