ArticleTrials2018
Music therapy versus treatment as usual for refugees diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.
Article in Trials, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03574228, which is not on this map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
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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.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Music therapy was noninferior to verbal standard treatment of traumatized refugees in mental health care: Results from a randomized clinical trial.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2021Trial
- The Role of Integrative Therapies in the Management of Trauma-related Disorders Amongst Refugees.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2026Review
- The role of music therapy and music-based interventions in male mental health: a narrative review of mechanisms, barriers, and clinical implications.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Music, imagery, and infertility: a qualitative inquiry into symptoms, treatments, and expressive therapies with infertility clinicians.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Article
- Music for displaced dyads: a mixed methods feasibility study on the impact of music therapy on the mental health and wellbeing of Ukrainian refugee families.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Ventral tegmental area dopaminergic action in music therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder: A literature review.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Review
- Trauma and Mental Health during the Global Pandemic: Abstract Book of the ESTSS 2021 Virtual ConferenceEditors: Annett Lotzin, A.A.A. Manik J. Djelantik, Marloes B. Eidhof, Anke de Haan, & Jana Kiralj.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2021Article
- The Limits of Resilience and the Need for Resistance: Articulating the Role of Music Therapy With Young People Within a Shifting Trauma Paradigm.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Review
- Assessing asylum seekers, refugees and undocumented migrants.BJPsych bulletin · 2020Article
- Links Between the Neurobiology of Oxytocin and Human Musicality.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMeta-analyses of studies on psychological treatment of refugees describe highly varying outcomes, and research on multi-facetted and personalized treatment of refugees with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is needed. Music therapy has been found to affect arousal regulation and emotional processing, and a pilot study on the music therapy method Trauma-focused Music and Imagery (TMI) with traumatized refugees resulted in significant changes of trauma symptoms, well-being and sleep quality. The aim of the trial is to test the efficacy of TMI compared to verbal psychotherapy.
methodsA randomized controlled study with a non-inferiority design is carried out in three locations of a regional outpatient psychiatric clinic for refugees. Seventy Arabic-, English- or Danish-speaking adult refugees (aged 18-67 years) diagnosed with PTSD are randomized to 16 sessions of either music therapy or verbal therapy (standard treatment). All participants are offered medical treatment, psychoeducation by nurses, physiotherapy or body therapy and social counseling as needed. Outcome measures are performed at baseline, post therapy and at 6 months' follow-up. A blind assessor measures outcomes post treatment and at follow-up. Questionnaires measuring trauma symptoms (HTQ), quality of life (WHO-5), dissociative symptoms (SDQ-20, DSS-20) and adult attachment (RAAS) are applied, as well as physiological measures (salivary oxytocin, beta-endorphin and substance P) and participant evaluation of each session. DISCUSSION: The effect of music therapy can be explained by theories on affect regulation and social engagement, and the impact of music on brain regions affected by PTSD. The study will shed light on the role of therapy for the attainment of a safe attachment style, which recently has been shown to be impaired in traumatized refugees. The inclusion of music and imagery in the treatment of traumatized refugees hopefully will inform the choice of treatment method and expand the possibilities for improving refugee health and integration.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov ID number NCT03574228, registered retrospectively on 28 June 2016.
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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.