From the Guidelines
Music therapy is a highly beneficial intervention for post-stroke patients, offering significant improvements in physical and psychological recovery, as evidenced by the most recent and highest quality study published in 2024 1.
Benefits of Music Therapy
The benefits of music therapy in post-stroke patients are multifaceted, including:
- Improvement in motor function through rhythmic auditory stimulation, particularly in gait training
- Enhancement of speech and language recovery through techniques like melodic intonation therapy
- Reduction of depression and anxiety by stimulating the release of dopamine and endorphins
- Improvement in cognitive functions like attention, memory, and executive function through structured musical activities
- Promotion of neuroplasticity, which is crucial for recovery after stroke
Recommendations
Based on the evidence, music therapy should be considered as a valuable adjunct to traditional rehabilitation approaches for post-stroke patients. Sessions can be tailored to each patient's specific deficits and rehabilitation goals, and may involve group-based physical exercise, art, and music activities, as recommended by the updated NICE guidance 1.
Key Considerations
When implementing music therapy for post-stroke patients, it is essential to:
- Involve patients in community participation programs as part of their rehabilitation
- Link patients to appropriate rehabilitation resources, including multidisciplinary outpatient rehabilitation facilities and specialty resources like otolaryngology clinics and neuro-ophthalmologists
- Encourage aerobic exercise, which is important for all patients after stroke, regardless of specific rehabilitation needs, as recommended by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association 1.
Session Details
Music therapy sessions can last 30-45 minutes and may be conducted 2-3 times weekly for several months, with approaches tailored to each patient's specific deficits and rehabilitation goals. While the evidence is not directly related to post-stroke patients in some studies, such as the management of fatigue in adult survivors of cancer 1, the benefits of music therapy in promoting recovery and improving quality of life are widely applicable.
From the Research
Benefits of Music Therapy in Post-Stroke Patients
- Music therapy has been observed to have a beneficial effect on stroke rehabilitation, addressing a broad spectrum of motor, speech, and cognitive deficits, as well as behavioral and emotional issues 2.
- Music-based interventions have emerged as a promising tool in stroke motor rehabilitation, integrating most of the principles of motor training and multimodal stimulation 3.
- Music-supported therapy (MST) has been shown to improve the motor functions of post-stroke patients, with studies suggesting that music may play a unique role in improving upper-limb motor function 4.
Motor Function Rehabilitation
- MST has been found to be effective in improving upper-limb motor function in post-stroke patients, with significant differences in the Wolf motor function test (WMFT) found between patients receiving audible music and those receiving "mute" musical instrument training 4.
- Music-based interventions have been shown to enhance motor learning aspects, boost motor performance, and have emotional and motivational benefits related to music 3.
Mood and Emotional Benefits
- Music-supported therapy has been used clinically to relieve post-stroke rehabilitation, with a study aiming to determine the effectiveness and safety of music-supported therapy in the treatment of mood in post-stroke rehabilitation patients 5.
- Music may confer benefits for well-being and health, with theoretical and practical considerations suggesting a role for music in supporting the rehabilitation of movements after stroke 6.
Future Research Directions
- More randomized controlled trials with a greater number of participants are required to strengthen the current data on the benefits of music therapy in post-stroke patients 2.
- Further research is needed to clarify the underlying mechanism for the effect of music-supported therapy on post-stroke patients, including the role of repeated practice and musical stimulation 4.