Short Term Effects Of Music Therapy

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, every 66 seconds someone in the United States develops dementia. With this being said the prevalence of dementia within the past 20 years has increased exponentially and the cost of this disease in 2010 alone has reached more than “$604 billion”, with the cost continuing to skyrocket every year (Wimo et al., 1). Across the world more than 35 million people are faced by this terminal, dehabiliting disease that has no known cure or treatment to prolong to life. Given this, researchers have taken a particular interest in finding alternative, low cost treatments to deal with this rapidly invading disease. Researchers have taken an interest in looking at non pharmacological treatments such as music therapy …show more content…
For instance, McDermott explains that while research has found reduction in behavioral symptoms in short term instances, there has been no long term studies that have been defined to evaluate how music therapy reduces symptoms on a long term basis (781). McDermott also notes that when studying the effects of music therapy on aggression, all the research trials that were reviewed only took place on a short term basis and when long term trials were tried there was such fluctuation in the treatment and control groups no substantial results could be concluded (790). Spiro agrees with this discussion on the efficacy of the research as he explains that due to a lack of randomized controlled trials there is a limited knowledge of the understanding of how dementia symptoms are actually impacted by music therapy (891). Both researchers have come to a conclusion that an analysis of randomized controlled trials is necessary to see on a greater scale what the behavioral effects are, and since most of the research cases are done on a case by case basis it is hard to see and compare its results and apply them to a great population of those suffering from dementia (McDermott et al. 781; Spiro 892). Ahn concludes this issue in efficacy by discussing that even though amazing results in using music therapy have been seen to reduce and help treat the damaging behaviors associated with dementia, the extensive gap in research prevents music therapy from being called “evidence-based medicine” (6). The literature regarding music therapy has typically seen promising results in the reduction of aggression, agitation and an increase in social behavior in those with dementia, these results are held in good standing but without more evidence from research