ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neurocritical and Neurohospitalist Care
The Effect of Receptive Music Therapy Plus Usual Nursing Care on Cognitive Performance and Quality of Life in Elderly Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Cognitive Impairment
Ran Sun
Qi Shen
Jingwei Liu
Shuo Chen
Yuting Fu
Xianhong Zeng
Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
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Abstract
Objectives: To evaluate the effects of receptive music therapy (RMT) combined with usual nursing care on cognitive performance, quality of life (QoL), mood, and metabolic stability among elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cognitive impairment. Methods: A randomized controlled trial enrolled 80 participants (aged 65–80 years) with T2DM and mild cognitive impairment. They were randomly assigned (1:1) to an intervention group (RMT + usual nursing care, n = 40) or control group (usual nursing care only, n = 40) for eight weeks. Primary outcomes were changes in Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), World Health Organization Quality of Life–BREF (WHOQOL-BREF), and Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15) scores. Secondary outcomes included glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and fasting glucose. Paired and independent t-tests with ANCOVA adjustment for baseline values were used. Results: Seventy-five participants completed the study (retention = 93.7 %). Compared with the control group, the intervention group showed a significant improvement in MoCA scores (Cohen’s d = 0.78; 22.5 ± 2.0 → 26.1 ± 1.8, F = 9.84, p = 0.003). Total WHOQOL-BREF scores increased from 52.5 ± 5.6 to 61.4 ± 5.1 (F = 8.73, p = 0.005), with notable gains in the psychological (+16.5 %) and social (+14.2 %) domains. GDS-15 scores declined markedly from 6.9 ± 1.5 to 4.1 ± 1.3 (F = 10.46, p = 0.002), indicating a ≈ 40 % reduction in depressive symptoms and a positive correlation with cognitive improvement (r = 0.42, p < 0.05). Glycemic parameters remained stable (HbA1c 7.8 ± 0.9 → 7.5 ± 0.8 %; p = 0.11; fasting glucose 8.4 ± 1.2 → 8.1 ± 1.0 mmol/L; p = 0.14), with no adverse events. Adherence exceeded 95 %, and satisfaction was > 90 %. Conclusion: RMT integrated with standard nursing care significantly improved cognition, mood, and QoL in elderly patients with T2DM and cognitive impairment without affecting metabolic stability. These results support RMT as a safe, inexpensive, and feasible adjunct to conventional geriatric diabetes management, offering a holistic nursing approach to enhance mental and emotional well-being.
Summary
Keywords
cognitive impairment, Depression, Nursing intervention, Quality of Life, Receptive music therapy, type 2 diabetes mellitus
Received
30 October 2025
Accepted
09 January 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Sun, Shen, Liu, Chen, Fu and Zeng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Xianhong Zeng
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