Applying levels of evidence to the psychiatric music therapy literature base

In an era of evidence-based practice (EBP), it is becoming increasingly important to distinguish the quality of research studies and synthesize results so they can be applied to clinical practice. Thus, in an attempt to categorize research and amalgamate results, scholars have developed various hierarchical levels of evidence to differentiate research implications. However, these levels of evidence have not yet been applied to the psychiatric music therapy literature base. The purpose of this paper was to discuss and identify the levels of evidence and apply well-established levels of evidence to the psychiatric music therapy literature base. Results indicated a lack of randomized controlled trials and overall low level of evidence. Further, regardless of taxonomy applied, most studies met criteria for the lowest level of evidence. This finding is congruent with the levels of evidence of other well-established psychosocial treatments for psychiatric consumers. Limitations, generalizations, and implications for research and clinical practice are provided.