Music therapy improved hospital discharge motivation and reduced self-reported pain levels in three elderly patients with severe pain

Abstract

We report three cases of patients with severe pain in which music therapy (MT) was applied and resulted in improved hospital discharge motivation and a further reduction in pain. Case 1 was that of a 78-year-old woman with recurrent low back and leg pain, and cases 2 and 3 involved 84- and 85-year-old women with acute herpetic pain. All patients reported their pain as 10 on the numerical rating scale (NRS), and exhibited comorbidities, such as sleep disorder and depression. Nerve block and pharmacotherapy significantly reduced reported pain scores; however, patients remained depressive and did not show willingness for hospital discharge. In case 1, MT was used to improve the quality of hospital stay, which unexpectedly improved the motivation for discharge and further reduced the NRS score. This experience was applied in cases 2 and 3 with similar effects. MT has been reported to have analgesic and anxiolytic effects in patients with chronic pain; however, our experience suggests its potential usefulness in cases of acute pain with comorbidities, such as depression.