Effectiveness of group music therapy on agitatedbehaviors in elderlies with Alzheimer's disease

Aims: As a proper medium for the treatment interventions, music, which, as a non-invasive tool, is not expensive, can be used alongside other nursing cares. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of group music-therapy on the rate of the agitated behavior in the elderly women with Alzheimer.
In the controlled semi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest plan, 20 female patients with Alzheimer, aged between 65 and 75 years, were studied in Shiraz Islamic Azad University in 2015. The patients were residents of Farzanegan Nursing Home in Shiraz Township. The subjects, selected via available sampling method, were randomly divided into two groups including experimental (n=10) and control (n=10) groups. Data was collected using 10-question brief cognitive test questionnaire and CohenMansfield agitation questionnaire. Experimental group received 4-week group music-therapy consisted of three 30- to 45-minute sessions per week. There was no intervention in control group. Data was collected in both pretest and posttest stages. Data was analyzed by SPSS 19 software using covariance analysis test.
Findings: At the pretest stage, mean rates of the agitated behaviors in experimental and control groups were not significantly different (p>0.05). Nevertheless, mean rate of the agitated behaviors in experimental group was significantly reduced at the posttest stage than both the pretest stage and control group (p0.05).
The group music-therapy is an effective tool to reduce the agitated behaviors in the elderly women with Alzheimer.