Rhythmic Entrainment: A Music Therapy Intervention to Elicit Relaxation and Decrease Anxiety for the Bone Marrow Transplant Recipient

Introduction: Patients diagnosed with cancer may experience psychological issues that can interfere with treatment plans and adversely affect outcomes. In addition to traditional, pharmacological treatments to address these issues, non-pharmacological interventions (such as music therapy) should be explored as a possible treatment option to decrease patients’ anxiety levels throughout the bone marrow transplantation (BMT) process. Music therapy is an established health profession in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals. Recently, the music therapy profession has expanded in the medical model to address the needs of patients diagnosed with leukemia. Rhythmic entrainment (the process in which two or more independent rhythmic processes synchronize with each other) is emerging as an effective music therapy intervention to decrease anxiety levels throughout a patient’s BMT process.

Method: Ms. S is a 47 year old patient diagnosed with acute myeloblastic leukemia who participated in 30-minute music therapy sessions to experience a decrease in anxiety levels and an increase in relaxation throughout the BMT process.  To achieve these goals, the music therapist utilized rhythmic entrainment by attempting to synchronize the patient’s biorhythms (i.e. heart rate and respirations per minute) to live music set to a tempo of 66-72 beats per minute. Ms. S actively participated in the session by attending to the task and following the music therapist’s suggestions for comfortable posture during the intervention.

Results: The music therapy sessions allowed Ms. S to experience an increase in relaxation and a decrease in anxiety levels, as evidenced by pre- and post-session measurements and objective observations. Pre-session measurements were: 130/82 (blood pressure, 86 (pulse), 20 (respirations per minute), and 45 (state portion of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory). Post-session measurements were: 128/80 (blood pressure), 82 (pulse), 16 (respirations per minute), and 39 (state portion of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory). Objective observations include Ms. S closing her eyes, ceasing fidgeting, and relaxing facial muscles during the intervention. These objective observations and pre/post session measurements demonstrate the effectiveness of the music therapy intervention.

Conclusion: Rhythmic entrainment can be a useful music therapy intervention for individuals throughout the BMT process to assist with eliciting a relaxation response and decreasing anxiety levels. In addition to case studies, the study team is planning a multi-site, quantitative study to provide ongoing data regarding the possible benefits of rhythmic entrainment and other music therapy interventions throughout the BMT process.