Music Therapy for People with Schizophrenia or other Psychoses

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

Music therapy is a psychotherapeutic method that uses musical interaction to help people with serious mental illness to develop relationships and to address issues they may not be able to using words alone. We aimed to examine the effects of music therapy for people with schizophrenia.

METHOD:

We reviewed all randomised trials comparing music therapy to no treatment, placebo, or standard care. A search in the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Register was supplemented by manual searches in journals. Outcomes were analysed using fixed-effects meta-analysis. The number of music therapy sessions (less than 20 vs. 20 or more) was examined as a possible source of heterogeneity.

RESULTS:

Four trials were included. These examined the effects of music therapy (between 7 and 78 sessions) over the short to medium term (1 to 3 months). Music therapy added to standard care was superior to standard care alone for global state. Continuous data suggested positive effects on negative as well as on general mental state and social functioning, but these depended on the number of music therapy sessions.

CONCLUSIONS:

Music therapy helps people with schizophrenia to improve their global state and may also improve mental state and functioning if a sufficient number of music therapy sessions are provided. Further research should address the dose-effect relationship and the long-term effects of music therapy.