By: Soniya Vijay
Background: Depression in older adults is a major health issue, especially in settings like nursing homes for the elderly. With the increasing interest in non-pharmacological interventions for managing depressive symptoms, music therapy has emerged as a promising approach. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of music therapy in reducing depressive symptoms among elderly residents of a selected geriatric home in Kolar district. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was employed, involving a sample of 60 elderly individuals diagnosed with mild to moderate depression, residing in a geriatric home in Kolar district. Participants were divided at random into two groups: one group participated in music therapy sessions twice per week over a span of eight weeks, while the other group was provided with the usual care. The primary outcome measure was the change in depressive symptoms, assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) before and after the intervention period. Results: The group that received intervention exhibited a significant decrease in GDS scores in comparison to the control group (p < 0.05), suggesting a substantial amelioration in depressive symptoms.   Additionally, qualitative feedback from participants suggested an enhancement in overall mood and social interaction within the intervention group. Conclusion: The results indicate that music therapy proves beneficial in alleviating depressive symptoms among elderly residents in geriatric facilities. This research adds to the increasing evidence backing the efficacy of music therapy as a non-pharmacological method to improve mental well-being in aging cohorts. It is advisable to conduct additional studies to investigate the enduring impacts of music therapy and its potential integration into conventional care protocols in geriatric environments.
Keywords: depression, geriatric home, Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), depressive symptoms, music therapy
Citation:
Refrences:
- Alice M.R. The Psychiatric Aid. 2nd edition. Philadelphia. Lippincott Company.
- Ahuja Niraj KP. A Short Text Book of Psychiatry. 5th edition. New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Publication; 2002. pp. 12–14
- Bhatia MS. A Concise Textbook of Psychiatric Nursing. New Delhi: CBS Publishers and Distributors; 1977.
- Kapoor B. Text Book of Psychiatric Nursing. Delhi: Kumar publishing Home; 2007.
- Burns N., Groove KS. Understanding Nursing Research. 4th edition. Philadelphia: Saunders Publications; 2008. pp. 133–141.
- Barker P. Basic Child Psychiatry. 6th Australia: Blackwell Science Limited; 1995.
- A. Patrick, Davis Sue. Research into Practice. 2nd edition. Edinburgh: Tindal; 1998. pp. 133–141.
- David M. Kevin J.K. Psychiatric Nursing. 5th edition. London: Churchill Livingstone; 1982.
- Elizabeth M. Foundation of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing. 3rd Philadelphia: W B Saunders Company; 1998.
- Fadem B. Behavioral Science in Medicine. 1st edition. Philadelphia: Lippincott; 2004.
- M.K. Frisch. L.E. Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing. 1st edition. Missouri: Mosby Publisher;2002.
- S. P.. Statistical Methods. 28th edition. New Delhi: Sultan Chand and Sons Publishers;1998.
- W.S. Principles and Practice of Psychiatric Nursing. 7th edition. Philadelphia: Mosby Health Science Company; 2005.
- Holck U. Interaction themes in music therapy – definition and delimitation. Nord J Music Therapy. 2004; 13(1): 3–19p.
- James F.A. Reading Understanding and Applying Nursing Research. 2nd Edition. Philadelphia: F.A Davis Company; 2003.
- Kaplan I.H. Synopsis of Psychiatry. 8th edition. Maryland: Williams and Wilkins; 1997.
17.  Kothari C.R. Research Methodology, Methods and Techniques. 2nd edition. New Delhi: Viswa Prakash publications; 2004.
- Kaplan & Shaddock. Synopsis of Psychiatry. 10th edition. Woltor Kolver: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2015.
- Lalitha K. Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing. 4th edition. Bangalore: VMG book House; 2010.
- Mahajan B.K. Methods in Biostatistics for Medical Students and Research workers. 2nd New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Publishers; 1998.
- Boyd MA. Psychiatric Nursing. 4th New Delhi: Wolters and Kluwer;2008.
- Townsend MC. Essential of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing. 5th edition. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company; 2003.
- Theoretical Basic for Nursing. 1st edition. Philadelphia: Lippincott and Wilkins; 2002.
- Nancy B, Grove K.S. Understanding Nursing Research. 2nd edition. New Delhi: Harcourt Publishers; 1999.
- Neeraja K.P. Essential of Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing. 1st edition. New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Publications; 2008.
- B. K. et.al. Text Book of Psychiatric. London: Churchill Living stone Publishers; 2002.
- Polit DF, and Hunglers BP. Nursing Research and Principles and Methods. 6th edition. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 1999.
- Rao Sunder P.S.S and Richard. An Introduction to Biostatistics – A Manual for Students in Health Science. 3rd edition. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India private Ltd.; 1996.
- Stuart and Sudan. Principles and Practice of Psychiatric Nursing. 9th edition. Philadelphia: Mosby publishers; 2008.
- D.L. Whaley’s and Wang’s Essentials of Psychiatric Nursing. St. Louis: Mosby publication; 2005.
- H.S. Mood disorder, clinical features, Comprehensive Textbook of psychiatry. 7th edition. Philadephia: Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins; 2000. pp. 1338–1337.
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th edition. American psychiatric association diagnostic and statistical manual for mental disorders: volume 7 (3) 2000. Available online at: https://repository.poltekkes-kaltim.ac.id/657/1/Diagnostic%20and%20statistical%20manual%20of%20mental%20disorders%20_%20DSM-5%20(%20PDFDrive.com%20).pdf
- Singh A, Misra N. Loneliness, depression and sociability in old age. Ind Psychiatry J. 2009;18(1): 51–55. doi: 10.4103/0972-6748.57861.
- Andreas S, Schulz H, Volkert J, Dehoust M, Sehner S, Suling A, AusÃn B, Canuto A, Crawford M, Da Ronch C, Grassi L, Hershkovitz Y, Muñoz M, Quirk A, Rotenstein O, Santos-Olmo AB, Shalev A, Strehle J, Weber K, Wegscheider K, Wittchen HU, Härter M. Prevalence of mental disorders in elderly people: the European MentDis_ICF65+ study. Br J Psychiatry. 2017; 210(2): 125–131p. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.115.180463.
- R D, Kasthuri A. Visual and hearing impairment among rural elderly of south India: a community-based study. Geriatr Gerontol Int. 2012; 12(1): 116–122p. doi: 10.1111/j.1447-0594.2011.00720.x.
- Brandt A, Gebrian M, Slevc LR. Music and early language acquisition. Front Psychol. 2012; 3: 327. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00327.
- Chan MF, Wong ZY, Thayala NV. A systematic review on the effectiveness of music listening in reducing depressive symptoms in adults. JBI Libr Syst Rev. 2010; 8(31): 1242–1287p. doi: 10.11124/01938924-201008310-00001.
- A and K.Ahmadi. Psychological disorders of elderly home residents. Journal of Applied Science. 2009; 9(3): 549–554p.
- Ingle GK, Nath A. Geriatric health in India: concerns and solutions. Indian J Community Med. 2008; 33(4): 214–218p. doi: 10.4103/0970-0218.43225.
- Nguyen LM, Mertens L. Psychosocial and Social Environmental Factors as Moderators in the Relation between the Objective Environment and Older Adults’ Active Transport. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021; 18(5): 2647. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18052647.
- Liu CY, Wang SJ, Teng EL, Fuh JL, Lin CC, Lin KN, Chen HM, Lin CH, Wang PN, Yang YY, Larson EB, Chou P, Liu HC. Depressive disorders among older residents in a Chinese rural community. Psychol Med. 1997; 27(4): 943–949p. doi: 10.1017/s0033291797005230
- Luppa M, Sikorski C, Luck T, Ehreke L, Konnopka A, Wiese B, Weyerer S, König HH, Riedel-Heller SG. Age- and gender-specific prevalence of depression in latest-life–systematic review and meta-analysis. J Affect Disord. 2012; 136(3): 212–221p. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2010.11.033.
- Lynch, T. R., Compton, J. S., Mendelson, T., Robins, C. J., & Krishnan, K. R. R. Anxious depression among the elderly: Clinical and phenomenological correlates. Aging & Mental Health. 2000; 4(3): 268–274p. https://doi.org/10.1080/713649922.
- Aalbers S, Fusar-Poli L, Freeman RE, Spreen M, Ket JC, Vink AC, Maratos A, Crawford M, Chen XJ, Gold C. Music therapy for depression. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017; 11(11): CD004517. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004517.pub3.
- Murray CJ, Lopez AD. Alternative projections of mortality and disability by cause 1990-2020: Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet. 1997; 349(9064): 1498–1504p. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(96)07492-2.
- Sidik SM, Rampal L, Afifi M. Physical and mental health problems of the elderly in a rural community of Sepang, Selangor. Malays J Med Sci. 2004; 11(1): 52–59p.
- Maratos AS, Gold C, Wang X, Crawford MJ. Music therapy for depression. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008;(1): CD004517. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004517.pub2.
- Arokiasamy JT. Social problems and care of the elderly. Med J Malaysia. 1997; 52(3): 231–237p.
- Patel V, Prince M. Ageing and mental health in a developing country: who cares? Qualitative studies from Goa, India. Psychol Med. 2001; 31(1): 29–38p. doi: 10.1017/s0033291799003098.
- WHO: Healthy Aging, Practical pointers on keeping Well, WHO Western Pacific Religion. Available online at: https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/207729