SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Aging Psychiatry
Effects of Music-based interventions on Sleep Quality in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Wuhan Conservatory of Music, Wuhan, China
- 2Hansei University, Gunpo-si, Republic of Korea
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Objective: To systematically evaluate the effects of Music-based interventions on slee p quality in older adults and to further explore its impact on depression, anxiety, and cognitive function. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in CNKI, Wanfang Data, VIP Database, China Biology Medicine disc (CBM), PubMed, Web of Science, the C ochrane Library, and Embase from database inception to November 2025. Randomize d controlled trials (RCTs) investigating music therapy in older adults were included. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5. 4 and Stata 18. 0 software. The prim ary outcome was sleep quality assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), while secondary outcomes included the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Fixed-or rando m-effects models were applied according to heterogeneity, and subgroup analyses were conducted. Results: A total of 14 studies published in Chinese and English were finally included, involving 1,730 participants, with 863 in the intervention groups and 867 in the cont rol groups. Meta-analysis showed that Music-based interventions significantly improve d sleep quality in older adults (PSQI: MD = −3. 37, 95% CI: −4. 24 to −2. 50, P < 0. 00001). Compared with control groups, Music-based interventions significantly reduced depressive (GDS: MD = −3. 94, 95% CI: −4. 90 to −2. 97, P < 0. 00001) a nd anxiety symptoms (SAS: MD = −9. 28, 95% CI: −18. 21 to −0. 35, P = 0. 04), and improved cognitive function (MMSE: MD = 2. 86, 95% CI: 1. 40 to 4. 13, P = 0. 0001). Subgroup analyses indicated that interventions lasting 4–8 weeks, with ses sion durations of 30–45 minutes and a frequency of seven sessions per week, were as sociated with greater improvements in sleep quality. Conclusions: Music-based interventions significantly improve sleep quality in older ad ults and has beneficial effects on depressive and anxiety symptoms as well as cognitiv e function. As a safe, non-invasive, and non-pharmacological intervention, music inter ventions may serve as an effective adjunct in the management of sleep and mental he alth in older adults.
Keywords: Cognitive Function, Meta-analysis, music-based interventions, Neuropsychiatric ssymptoms, older adults, sleep quality, Systematic review
Received: 23 Dec 2025; Accepted: 03 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 He, Liu, He and Li. 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: AOyi Li
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