Mukhtar S, Mustahsin M, Dubey M, Kazmi SAH, Shishir P. Effect of music therapy on outcomes of critically ill patients. World J Crit Care Med 2025; 14(4): 111059 [DOI: 10.5492/wjccm.v14.i4.111059]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Mohd Mustahsin, DM, MD, Associate Professor, Head, Critical Care Unit, Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, Era University, FFF-2, Doctor’s Residence, Hardoi Road, Sarfarazganj, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India. mustahsin.malik@gmail.com
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Critical Care Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Dec 9, 2025 (publication date) through Dec 8, 2025
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World Journal of Critical Care Medicine
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2220-3141
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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Mukhtar S, Mustahsin M, Dubey M, Kazmi SAH, Shishir P. Effect of music therapy on outcomes of critically ill patients. World J Crit Care Med 2025; 14(4): 111059 [DOI: 10.5492/wjccm.v14.i4.111059]
World J Crit Care Med. Dec 9, 2025; 14(4): 111059 Published online Dec 9, 2025. doi: 10.5492/wjccm.v14.i4.111059
Effect of music therapy on outcomes of critically ill patients
Sabiha Mukhtar, Mohd Mustahsin, Madhulika Dubey, Syed Ahmed Hussain Kazmi, Piyush Shishir
Sabiha Mukhtar, Piyush Shishir, Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, Era University, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India
Mohd Mustahsin, Madhulika Dubey, Critical Care Unit, Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, Era University, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India
Syed Ahmed Hussain Kazmi, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Era University, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India
Author contributions: Mukhtar S collected the patient’s data; Mustahsin M designed the study, analyzed the data, wrote and revised the paper; Dubey M and Kazmi SAH verified the paper for important intellectual content; Shishir P performed the statistical analysis; all of the authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript to be published.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Institutional Ethical Committee of Era’s Lucknow Medical College and Hospital, Lucknow (No. ELMC&H/R-Cell/2023/38).
Clinical trial registration statement: This study was registered at Clinical Trial Registry-India, No. CTRI/2024/10/074774.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided written informed consent before enrollment in this study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.
Data sharing statement: There are no additional data to share.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Mohd Mustahsin, DM, MD, Associate Professor, Head, Critical Care Unit, Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, Era University, FFF-2, Doctor’s Residence, Hardoi Road, Sarfarazganj, Lucknow 226003, Uttar Pradesh, India. mustahsin.malik@gmail.com
Received: June 24, 2025 Revised: July 28, 2025 Accepted: November 4, 2025 Published online: December 9, 2025 Processing time: 159 Days and 22.7 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Intensive care units (ICUs) are stressful milieus for patients, particularly when under mechanical ventilation. Music is a non-pharmacological intervention that has shown a positive impact on physiological and psychological parameters in patients on mechanical ventilation.
AIM
To evaluate outcome of music therapy on patients who are critically ill to note the effect on ICU stays.
METHODS
One-hundred-and-thirty-six adult patients with acute respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation for 48 hours or more were randomized into the music therapy or routine care (control) groups. Patients were assessed for weaning criteria before music therapy was given. If eligible, a 30-minute music therapy was given prior to the extubation. Vital parameters were recorded at 5-minute intervals of therapy. Visual Analog Scale (VAS)-Dyspnea and VAS-Anxiety (VAS-A) were assessed before and after therapy. Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale and Numerical Rating Scale scoring were conducted.
RESULTS
The difference in times of ventilator support in the music therapy intervention group (58.22 ± 14.90 hours) and the control group (56.88 ± 13.10 hours) was not statistically significant. ICU length of stay was significantly lower in the music therapy group (4.97 ± 1.70 days vs control group: 5.70 ± 1.74 days). ICU mortality was significantly lower in the music therapy group as compared with the control group (7.4% vs 19.1%; P = 0.043). At 0 minute the VAS-A scores of the music therapy (6.82 ± 1.36) and control group (7.07 ± 1.07) were comparable. During the remainder of the observation period, the VAS score of the music therapy group was significantly lower than that of the control group.
CONCLUSION
Music therapy is an inexpensive non-pharmacological intervention for patients in the ICU. However, future multicenter studies are warranted before routinely using music therapy in patients in the ICU.
Core Tip: Patients who are critically ill on mechanical ventilation are under stress and anxiety that can lead to increased intensive care unit (ICU) stay lengths and poor outcomes. Music therapy is a non-pharmacological intervention that has shown a positive impact on physiological and psychological parameters in patients on mechanical ventilation. The current study determined the effect of music therapy for patients who were critically ill on outcomes including the length of the ICU stay.
