Music-Based Interventions May Help Short-Term Depression, Behavior With Dementia

Review shows no evidence of long-term effects from music-based therapeutic interventions

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, March 11, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Music-based therapeutic interventions may improve depressive symptoms and overall behavioral problems in the short term for people with dementia, according to a review published online March 7 in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Jenny T. van der Steen, Ph.D., from the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to assess the effects of music‐based therapeutic interventions for people with dementia.

Based on 30 studies (1,720 participants), the researchers found moderate-certainty evidence that music-based therapeutic interventions probably improved depressive symptoms slightly (nine studies; 441 participants). There was low-certainty evidence that it improved overall behavioral problems (10 studies; 385 participants). There was moderate-certainty evidence that music-based therapeutic interventions likely did not improve agitation or aggression (11 studies; 503 participants). There was low- to very low-certainty evidence that music-based interventions did not improve emotional well-being (four studies; 154 participants), anxiety (seven studies; 282 participants), social behavior (two studies; 121 participants), or cognition (seven studies; 353 participants). Four weeks or more after the end of treatment, there was low- or very low-certainty evidence that music-based therapeutic interventions may not have been more effective than usual care for any of the outcomes.

“When compared to usual care, providing people with dementia with at least five sessions of a music‐based therapeutic intervention probably improves depressive symptoms and may improve overall behavioral problems at the end of treatment,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to relevant organizations.

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