Background:

Music therapy or sound interventions were shown to confer beneficial effects in patients with cancer for instance in terms of pain or fear relief and improvement of other patient reported outcomes. Cardiovascular parameters, especially heart rate variability (HRV) were found to have prognostic implications in cancer patients. In this trial we aimed to investigate the effects of a sound intervention on cardiovascular parameters compared to rest in patients with cancer.

Methods and results:

Using a randomized cross-over design, 52 patients (male 13, female 39) with cancer were recruited to receive both a 15-minute sound intervention and a 15-minute rest intervention within 4 weeks with at least a one-week blanking period. Cardiovascular parameters (among others HRV, aortic pulse wave velocity [PWV], augmentation index [Aix], aortic blood pressure [BP], heart rate [HR]) were assessed immediately before (pre) and after (post) the intervention had taken place. HRV (Root mean square of successive RR interval differences [RMSSD, ms]) significantly increased, during sound intervention (median RMSSD pre 24 [range 5-112] vs post 22 [range 9-141], P = .03). Likewise, median PWV, as a direct marker of arterial stiffness, was significantly reduced by sound intervention ([m/s] pre 8.5 [range 5.6-19.6] vs post 8.3 [range 5.6-15.6], P = .04). For both parameters no statistically significant change during rest was observed. HR was lowered by both, rest (P < .0001) and sound intervention (P = .02), with a more pronounced effect by rest. A significant increase in systolic aortic blood pressure was shown by rest ([mmHg] median 101 [range 78-150] vs post median 103 [range 71-152], P = .04) but not during sound intervention (P = .59), while rest intervention led to a decrease in resistance index (pre median 33 [range 13-92] vs post median 32 [11-84], P = .02).

Conclusion:

In comparison with rest, a single sound intervention in patients with cancer improved cardiovascular parameters commonly associated with increased stress levels. Studies with longer follow-up and multiple interventions are warranted.

Trial Registration:

ISRCTN registry 70947363.

中文翻译：

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声音干预和休息对癌症患者心血管参数的不同影响：一项随机交叉试验

背景：

音乐疗法或声音干预已被证明可以为癌症患者带来有益效果，例如缓解疼痛或恐惧以及改善其他患者报告的结果。发现心血管参数，尤其是心率变异性 (HRV) 对癌症患者的预后有影响。在这项试验中，我们旨在研究与癌症患者的休息相比，合理干预对心血管参数的影响。

方法和结果：

使用随机交叉设计，招募了 52 名癌症患者（男性 13 名，女性 39 名），在 4 周内接受 15 分钟的声音干预和 15 分钟的休息干预，至少有一周的空白期。心血管参数（其中包括 HRV、主动脉脉搏波速度 [PWV]、增强指数 [Aix]、主动脉血压 [BP]、心率 [HR]）在干预之前（之前）和之后（之后）进行评估地方。HRV（连续 RR 间隔差异的均方根 [RMSSD, ms]）在声音干预期间显着增加（中值 RMSSD 前 24 [范围 5-112] vs 后 22 [范围 9-141]，P = .03）。同样，声音干预显着降低了作为动脉僵硬度直接标志的中位 PWV（[m/s] 8.5 前 [范围 5.6-19.6] 与 8.3 后 [范围 5.6-15.6]，P  = .04）。对于这两个参数，在休息期间没有观察到统计学上的显着变化。HR 会因休息 ( P  < .0001) 和声音干预 ( P  = .02)两者而降低，其中休息效果更显着。休息时显示主动脉收缩压显着升高（[mmHg] 中位数 101 [范围 78-150] 与中位数 103 [范围 71-152] 后，P  = .04），但在声音干预期间则不然（P  = .59 )，而休息干预导致阻力指数降低（前中位数 33 [范围 13-92] 与后中位数 32 [11-84]，P  = .02）。

结论：

与休息相比，癌症患者的单一声音干预改善了通常与压力水平增加相关的心血管参数。有必要进行更长时间的随访和多种干预的研究。

试用注册：

ISRCTN 注册 70947363。