Comparative Efficacy of Active Group Music Intervention versus Group Music Listening in Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Background: Music interventions are promising therapies for the management of symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Globally, music interventions can be classified as active or receptive depending on the participation of the subjects. Active and receptive music tasks engage different brain areas that might result in distinctive clinical effects. This study aims to compare the clinical effects of two types of music interventions and a control activity. Methods: Ninety AD patients from six nursing homes participated in the study. Nursing homes were randomly and blindly assigned to receive either active music intervention, receptive music intervention, or the usual care. Effects on cognition, behaviour, daily living activities, and motor function were assessed. Results: Active music intervention improved cognition, behaviour, and functional state in a higher extent than both receptive music intervention and usual care. The effect size of active music intervention for cognitive deficits and behavioural symptoms was large (η2 = 0.62 and 0.61, respectively), while for functional state, it was small-to-medium sized (η2 = 0.18). Receptive music intervention had a stabilizing effect on behavioural symptoms compared to control intervention (mean change from baseline ± standard deviation = −0.76 ± 3.66 and 3.35 ± 3.29, respectively). In the active music intervention, the percentage of patients who showed improvement in cognitive deficits (85.7), behavioural symptoms (92.9), and functional state (46.4) was higher than in both receptive listening (11.8, 42.9, and 14.3, respectively) and control group (6.3, 12.2, and 17.1, respectively). Conclusions: Active music intervention is useful to improve symptoms of AD and should be prescribed as a complement to the usual treatment.

Karawitans’ musician brain adaptation: standardized low-resolution electromagnetic tomography study

“…Active music intervention can help with Alzheimer's symptoms and should be given as a supplement to standard care. The data demonstrate that combining AMI with standard treatment can help mild-to-moderate AD patients improve their cognition, behavior, and reliance [20].…”

The Effect of Music-Based Intervention on General Cognitive and Executive Functions, and Episodic Memory in People with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Recent Randomized Controlled Trials

“…This suggests that active music-based intervention would have positive effects on executive function. This may be because active music intervention is more likely to promote socialization, engagement, verbal processing, or motor planning compared with receptive music intervention [ 66 ]. Since active music intervention has been utilized more often than receptive music intervention, future studies should investigate the effect of active music-based intervention on cognitive function.…”

The promise of music therapy for Alzheimer's disease: A review

“…It should be noted, however, that a few studies on effects of AD specifically (not dementia in general) support the conclusion that MT has beneficial effects on cognitive function, behavioral symptoms of dementia, and mood in patients with AD. 19,24,28,55,[57][58][59][60][61]…”

“…Although this study demonstrated the promising effects of MT, there are relatively few studies that have investigated AD patients exclusively, 19,24,27,28,55–61 and to the best of our knowledge, no meta‐analyses on the effects of MT in AD are available. A meta‐analysis on effects of MT in dementia patients in general, including dementias other than AD, reported a small effect of active MT on global cognition (but this effect was not present when both active and receptive studies were combined) 62 .…”