Research to Examine the Effectiveness of Music Listening without Paying Attention to the Music in Patients Living at Home with Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

There are many reports of musical intervention as a treatment for PD patients. In past reports on the efficacy of music listening, the focus was on the effects of a state of concentration upon the music through listening or singing with headphones. When living at home, it is often difficult to spend long periods of time listening to music due to the many hours spent on daily responsibilities. That being said, our research has examined the effectiveness of music listening without paying attention to the music. The test subjects of this research were seven PD patients who spend their lives at home. The points of evaluation included SDS, PDQ-39, the finger tap test, and the subjects’ daily activities. Our results consisted of a recognizable, significant improvement in the activity of the SDS and PDQ-39, and in finger tap test speeds. We also recognized a tendency towards improvement in daily activities as well. Our research has indicated the effectiveness of music listening without focusing on the music. We believe that, like having background music to accompany one’s dailyactivities, this may become a legitimate medical treatment that is very easy to incorporate into one’s life.