Music of Choice to Decrease Anxiety During Radiation Treatment

A Randomized Trial of Music to Decrease Anxiety in Women Starting Radiation Therapy for Cancer

The primary hypothesis of the study is that listening to music will reduce anxiety in female cancer patients during the first radiotherapy treatment session.

Receiving radiotherapy induces anxiety in at least 1/3 of patients who did not have a previously existing anxiety condition1. Female gender is a positive predictive factor for psychosocial decline during radiotherapy. One-fourth of patients disrupt their planned radiotherapy treatment course due to anxiety. Music therapy has demonstrated effectiveness in reducing anxiety when implemented in other medical settings including mechanical ventilation, burn debridement and venipuncture in pediatric patients. There have been some trials which have found a reduction in anxiety when pre-recorded music along with other relaxation techniques have been implemented during radiotherapy. This trial seeks to investigate the benefit of pre-recorded music alone in reducing anxiety experienced during the first radiotherapy treatment session in female cancer patients.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Scheduled to receive radiotherapy for malignant tumor
• ECOG Performance Status 0-4
• Fluent in English Language
• Inclusion in this study will not be based on race or ethnicity
• Patients must be deemed able to comply with the treatment plan.
• Patients must provide study specific informed consent prior to study entry.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Prior history of radiation therapy