SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Psychological Therapy and Psychosomatics
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1600359
This article is part of the Research TopicMusic-based Interventions for Mental Health and WellbeingView all 3 articles
Efficacy of music intervention on pain and anxiety in patients undergoing cataract surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted
- Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
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Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of music therapy in reducing anxiety and pain among patients undergoing cataract surgery.Methods: Relevant studies up to May 2024 were identified by searching PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science, CNKI, and Wanfang databases. Literature selection followed PICOS criteria, with methodological quality assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Meta-analysis employed standardized mean differences (SMD). Sensitivity and subgroup analyses explored result stability and heterogeneity, utilizing Review Manager 5.4 and STATA 15.0 for analysis.Results: Eighteen studies with 2,262 participants were included. Music therapy significantly reduced anxiety levels, as demonstrated by a notable decrease in Visual Analog Scale (VAS) anxiety scores (SMD = -7.10, 95% CI: -12.25 to -1.95) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scores (SMD = -1.26, 95% CI: -1.85 to -0.66). Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) scores were also significantly lower in the music therapy group (SMD = -0.27, 95% CI: -0.42 to -0.12). Regarding physiological parameters, music therapy significantly reduced systolic blood pressure (SBP) (SMD = -0.58, 95% CI: -0.80 to -0.35), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (SMD = -0.27, 95% CI: -0.42 to -0.12), and heart rate (HR) (SMD = -0.31, 95% CI: -0.45 to -0.17). Subgroup analysis indicated greater therapeutic efficacy among Asian populations compared to European populations.Conclusion: Music therapy significantly reduces anxiety and pain in cataract surgery patients and improves vital signs to some extent. However, due to heterogeneity in certain results, further high-quality randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are needed to confirm its effectiveness.
Keywords: Music Therapy, VAS, STAI, SAS, Meta-analysis
Received: 26 Mar 2025; Accepted: 27 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Su, Zhang and Lu. 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: Lixin Lu, Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
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