ArticleCureus2026
Effects of Preferred Music on Pain Tolerance During an Experimental Cold Pressor Test: A Pilot Study.
Article in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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.
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
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Abstract
Background Preferred music has shown promise as a non-pharmacologic strategy for modulating pain, yet its effects in controlled laboratory environments relevant to rehabilitation practice remain underexplored. This pilot study examined whether listening to self-selected preferred music influences pain perception during an experimental cold pressor task. Methods Twenty healthy adults (mean age: 35.4 years) completed six cold pressor cycles in a repeated-measures design: two pre-music trials, two preferred-music trials, and two post-music trials. During each trial, participants immersed their non-dominant hand in 0°C water until the first pain perception. Outcomes included time-to-pain perception (seconds) and pain intensity (10-cm Visual Analogue Scale). Friedman's test with Wilcoxon post-hoc comparisons analyzed non-normally distributed time-to-pain data, while repeated-measures ANOVA evaluated normally distributed pain intensity scores. Results Preferred music significantly increased pain tolerance. Mean time-to-pain perception rose from 33.8 s (pre-music) to 56.2 s during preferred-music trials, decreasing to 45.4 s post-music. The overall effect of the condition was significant (χ²(2) = 15.6, p < .001). Post-hoc tests showed significantly greater tolerance during preferred-music trials compared with both pre-music (p = 0.001) and post-music (p = 0.001) conditions, with 17 of 20 participants demonstrating increased tolerance. Pain intensity ratings did not differ significantly across conditions (F(2, 38) = 0.561, p > 0.05). Conclusion Preferred music meaningfully delayed pain onset during the cold pressor test (CPT) but did not alter perceived pain intensity. These findings support preferred music as a simple, low-cost strategy that may enhance pain tolerance and patient engagement during rehabilitation activities. Larger, clinically focused studies are needed to clarify mechanisms, the durability of effects, and real-world therapeutic applications.
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