Can music help calm patients down and reduce pain? Kathy Schlecht, DO, an anesthesiologist with Beaumont Health System in Royal Oak, Mich., is looking into it in a new study.
Dr. Schlecht received a $10,000 grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation to study this concept. Patients who participate in the study get placed into one of three groups: One group selects their favorite music, one group gets music that is pre-identified as calming or relaxing, and the third does not listen to music.
To measure the effect of the music, Dr. Schlecht is examining the amount of supplemental sedation medications administered, the amount of time spent in recovery, and how patients rate their anxiety and pain.
"Music can elevate people's moods, alleviate anxiety by serving as a distraction, increase their tolerance for pain, and decrease the amount of medications needed, thus decreasing the amount of side effects experienced by patients," said Dr. Schlecht.
So far, just 20 patients have participated in the study. Dr. Schlecht is aiming to include 75 patients in this phase of research.