Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32992767›Full record

ReviewGeriatrics (Basel, Switzerland)2020

Effects of Music Therapy on Patients with Dementia-A Systematic Review.

Hei Long Lam, Wai Tak Victor Li, Ismail Laher, Roger Y Wong

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05505019 (The Role of a Personalized Music Intervention Towards Alleviating Apathy in Parkinson's Disease), which is not on this map. Cited by 45 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
45citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
19.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT05505019 narecruitingnot on this mapstarted 2022, after this paper: background citation

The Role of a Personalized Music Intervention Towards Alleviating Apathy in Parkinson's Disease

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of British ColumbiaRan2022 to 2026Enrolled50ConditionsParkinson Disease, ApathyArmsMusic listening, Podcast listening
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

45 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 146 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Music-based therapeutic interventions for people with dementia.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
    Pooled it
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  8. Trial
  9. Trial
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  11. Article
  12. The sound of longevity: music and technology for healthy ageing.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2026
    Review
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  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Hei Long LamLi Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Wai Tak Victor LiLi Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Ismail LaherDepartment of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-3917-4417
Roger Y WongDepartment of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9, Canada.
University of British Columbia · CAUniversity of Hong Kong · HK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Dementia is an increasingly common syndrome and while pharmacotherapy is available, its potential benefit is limited, especially in non-cognitive outcomes. Non-pharmacotherapy such as music therapy is potentially associated with improved outcomes. We assessed the effects of music therapy on patients with dementia to evaluate its potential benefits on dementia. Two independent reviewers searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, CENTRAL, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases for clinical trials, using the keywords "music therapy" and "dementia". Study outcomes included cognitive function, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), and quality of life. A total of 82 studies were included, of which 43 were interventional clinical trials, and 39 were systematic reviews or meta-analyses. Significant improvements in verbal fluency occurred after music therapy, with significant reductions in anxiety, depression, and apathy. There were no significant improvements in cognition or daily functioning, and the results on quality of life and agitation were ambiguous. Limitations of studies included low patient numbers, lack of standardized music therapy, and high heterogeneity in outcomes. More large-scale clinical trials would allow for clearer conclusions on the benefits of music therapy in patients with dementia.

Indexed as

dementiamusic therapysystematic review

Identifiers

PMID32992767
PMCPMC7709645
OpenAlexW3088390778

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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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.