Trial reportJournal of music therapy2016
Vocal Music Therapy for Chronic Pain Management in Inner-City African Americans: A Mixed Methods Feasibility Study.
Trial report in Journal of music therapy, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effect of music therapy for patients with chronic pain: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychology · 2025Pooled it
- A dual-database bibliometric analysis of music-based interventions and pain from 2004 to 2024.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review on the effects of group singing on persistent pain in people with long-term health conditions.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2020Pooled it
- Effects of music therapy and music-based interventions in the treatment of substance use disorders: A systematic review.PloS one · 2017Pooled it
- Refining a hybrid music therapy intervention for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart failure: a single arm pilot study.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Trial
- Music Therapy for Pain Management for People With Advanced Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Psycho-oncology · 2024Trial
- Vocal Music Therapy for Chronic Pain: A Mixed Methods Feasibility Study.Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2020Trial
- Evaluation of pain and patient satisfaction by music therapy in patients with endoscopy/colonoscopy.The Turkish journal of gastroenterology : the official journal of Turkish Society of Gastroenterology · 2018Trial
- Initial Exploration of a Music-Based Telehealth Support for Medically-Complex Chronic Pain Patients.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
- Reporting guidelines for music-based interventions checklist: Explanation and elaboration guide.Integrative medicine research · 2025Article
- Reporting Guidelines for Music-based Interventions checklist: explanation and elaboration guide.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Review
- Effectiveness of Medical Music Therapy Practice: Integrative Research Using the Electronic Health Record: Rationale, Design, and Population Characteristics.Journal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2024Article
- Music Therapy for Pain in Black and White Cancer Patients: A Retrospective Study.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2022Article
- A web app-based music intervention reduces experimental thermal pain: A randomized trial on preferred versus least-liked music style.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Effects of Music Therapy on Quality of Life in Adults with Sickle Cell Disease (MUSIQOLS): A Mixed Methods Feasibility Study.Journal of pain research · 2022Article
- Embracing Technological Possibilities in the Telehealth Delivery of Interactive Music Therapy.Nordic journal of music therapy · 2022Article
- Mechanistic research approaches in music therapy for pain: Humanizing and contextualized options for clinician-researchers.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Efficacy of Group Music Therapy Based on Emotion-Regulation Skills on Male Inpatients With Alcohol Dependence: A Randomized, Controlled Pilot Trial.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Neuronal Effects of Listening to Entrainment Music Versus Preferred Music in Patients With Chronic Cancer Pain as Measured via EEG and LORETA Imaging.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTo date, research on music for pain management has focused primarily on listening to prerecorded music for acute pain. Research is needed on the impact of active music therapy interventions on chronic pain management.
objectiveThe aim of this mixed methods research study was to determine feasibility and estimates of effect of vocal music therapy for chronic pain management.
methodsFifty-five inner-city adults, predominantly African Americans, with chronic pain were randomized to an 8-week vocal music therapy treatment group or waitlist control group. Consent and attrition rates, treatment compliance, and instrument appropriateness/burden were tracked. Physical functioning (pain interference and general activities), self-efficacy, emotional functioning, pain intensity, pain coping, and participant perception of change were measured at baseline, 4, 8, and 12 weeks. Focus groups were conducted at the 12-week follow-up.
resultsThe consent rate was 77%. The attrition rate was 27% at follow-up. We established acceptability of the intervention. Large effect sizes were obtained for self-efficacy at weeks 8 and 12; a moderate effect size was found for pain interference at week 8; no improvements were found for general activities and emotional functioning. Moderate effect sizes were obtained for pain intensity and small effect sizes for coping, albeit not statistically significant. Qualitative findings suggested that the treatment resulted in enhanced self-management, motivation, empowerment, a sense of belonging, and reduced isolation.
conclusionsThis study suggests that vocal music therapy may be effective in building essential stepping-stones for effective chronic pain management, namely enhanced self-efficacy, motivation, empowerment, and social engagement.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.