Trial reportPalliative medicine2021
"Song of Life": Results of a multicenter randomized trial on the effects of biographical music therapy in palliative care.
Trial report in Palliative medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Music therapy for end-of-life care.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Psychoneuroendocrinological effects of music therapy versus mindfulness in palliative care: results from the 'Song of Life' randomized controlled trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2022Trial
- Music-Based Interventions in Advanced Cancer Palliative Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials Identified Within the Broader Field of Art-Based Interventions.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Musical Rounds: A multisite, mixed-methods feasibility study of a musical legacy session in palliative care.Palliative & supportive care · 2026Article
- "Family-as-Root" and "Family-Centeredness" in hospice care: a concept analysis and implications for nursing practice.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- Development and validation of the questionnaire "Spiritual Needs in Palliative Care" in Finnish.Palliative & supportive care · 2026Article
- Implementing video-based group music therapy during cancer treatment: insights from a mixed-methods study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- The role of music therapy in palliative and end-of-life care: a narrative review of psychosocial outcomes.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Biological Effects of Music Therapy in End-of-Life Care: A Narrative Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Review
- A qualitative study on ICU nurses' perceptions of palliative care.BMC nursing · 2025Article
- "It was 15 minutes without pain" - a mixed methods pilot study on the implementation of music therapy for hospitalised patients with incurable lung disease.European clinical respiratory journal · 2025Article
- [Spiritual interventions in multimodal pain management].Schmerz (Berlin, Germany) · 2024Article
- Complementary Musical Intervention for Patients in Palliative Care in Spain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Impact of Spiritual Support Interventions on the Quality of Life of Patients Who Receive Palliative Care: A Systematic Review.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2024Review
- Therapeutic potential of twenty-first century music for cancer survivorship: from music and conceptual metaphor perspectives to a synergetic effect approach.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Article
- Psychological wellbeing with music therapy: the moderating role of health awareness, and strategic health management in post Covid-19 era.BMC psychology · 2024Article
- Patient Outcomes of a Virtual Reality-Based Music Therapy Pilot in Palliative Care.Palliative medicine reports · 2024Article
- 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: A Noninvasive Treatment to Reduce Anxiety and Pain of Colorectal Cancer Patients-A Systemic Literature Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Review
- A Thematic Analysis of Dimensions of Spiritual Care.Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery researchArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAwareness for the importance of psychological and spiritual needs in patients with terminal diseases has increased in recent years, but randomized trials on the effects of psychosocial interventions are still rare.
aimTo investigate the efficacy of the "Song of Life" music therapy intervention regarding the emotional and psycho-spiritual dimensions of quality of life.
designPatients were randomly assigned to either "Song of Life" or a relaxation intervention. "Song of Life" is a novel three-session music therapy intervention working with a biographically meaningful song. Primary outcome was the improvement in psychological quality of life. Secondary outcomes included spiritual well-being, ego-integrity, momentary distress, and global quality of life and the explorative assessment of treatment satisfaction (patient and family member version). Intention-to-treat analysis was conducted including adjustment for multiple testing in secondary outcomes. SETTING/
participantsBetween December 2018 and August 2020, 104 patients receiving specialized palliative care were recruited from two palliative care wards.
resultsNo significant differences were found regarding psychological and global quality of life, but "Song of Life" participants reported significantly higher spiritual well-being (
conclusionsOur findings provide evidence that "Song of Life" is an effective and meaningful biographical music therapy intervention to facilitate psycho-spiritual integration in terminally ill patients.
trial registrationGerman Clinical Trials Register (DRKS)-DRKS00015308 (date of registration: September 7th 2018).
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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.