Music-based interventions among adults with depression

Abstract

This topic was chosen to answer the question, ‘Are music-based interventions adjunct to standard treatment more effective than standard treatment alone in reducing depressive symptoms in adults?’ The PICO question framework was utilized to establish the demographic and outcome measures the author aimed to explore. The population of interest was that of adults experiencing depressive symptoms as their primary complaint. The interventions of interest are music-based, which comprise many forms of music such as passive, active, and group music-based interventions (MBIs). Interventions were facilitated by different professionals such as healthcare professionals in music medicine and music therapists in music therapy (MT). To decipher the most advantageous articles predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria were established. The inclusion criteria are as follows; Depression or dysthymia as the primary complaint, secondary co-morbidities such as Alzheimer's Disease and mild cognitive impairment, peer-reviewed literature published in the last 10 years, participants aged 16 and older, articles published in the English language, and, full text available. In total six articles were identified as eligible and were critically appraised using CASP as the main tool. Although the heterogeneity was high across the chosen articles the results emerged in favour of the posed PICO question thus demonstrating that MBI reduces depressive symptoms when combined with standard treatment compared to standard treatment alone. The author emphasises the need for further research on the topic of MBI and continues with caution when disseminating the findings. Moreover, the main recommendations are to promote continuous professional development among mental health professionals in MBI and encourage prevention and management of depressive symptoms using accessible tools such as music.