Effect of Music Intervention on Anxiety and Stress-Related Vital Signs in Patients Undergoing Central Venous Access Procedures: A Meta-Analysis

Background: Central venous access procedures (CVAPs) are routinely practiced in several clinical settings. Music interventions are known to improve certain clinical outcomes in hospitalised patients. However, previous studies reported controversial findings regarding the effect of music intervention on anxiety and stress-related vital signs in patients undergoing CVAPs. Objects: A meta-analysis was conducted to evalauted the effect of music intervention on anxiety and stress-related vital signs in patients undergoing CVAPs. Method: PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and EBSCO were systematically searched from inception to June 30, 2023. Two authors independently searched electronic databases, selected literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias according to the eligibility criteria. The Review Manager software (RevMan version 5.4.1) was used to perform meta-analysis. Results: Five trials (n = 628) were enrolled and brought into qualitative assessment. Four of these trials (n = 556) were taken into quantitative analysis. Meta-analysis using the random-effects model revealed that the difference in the pre-post procedure of the anxiety level in the music group was significantly greater than that in the control group (SMD = −0.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [−0.81 to −0.47]; p < 0.00001; I2 = 0%). No significant inter-subgroup differences in the anxiety level were detected in accordance with different anxiety-level scoring tools, music devices and sources of music selection. Additionally, the reductions in heart rate and systolic blood pressure were significantly greater in the music group than in the control group. This meta-analysis demonstrated that music intervention possesses therapeutic effects on anxiety and stress-related vital signs in patients undergoing CVAPs. More randomized controlled trials are need to validate our findings.