Effects of guitar accompaniment style within patient preferred live music on mood and pain with hospitalized patients on a solid organ transplant unit: A three group randomized pilot study

While music therapy in the form of patient preferred live music (PPLM) can positively impact self-reported mood and pain for solid organ transplant patients, there is a lack of research examining how instrumental accompaniment within PPLM might affect these variables. The purpose of this randomized pilot study was to determine the effect of guitar accompaniment style within PPLM on mood and pain with hospitalized patients on a solid organ transplant unit. In this pre- and posttest single-session study, participants (N = 29) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: PPLM with simple accompaniment, PPLM with complex accompaniment, or a wait-list control group. Results indicated significant between-group differences in posttest measures of relaxed/anxious, cheerful/depressed, and well-coordinated/clumsy. Bonferroni adjustments for multiple comparisons indicated significant differences between control and both complex (p = 0.049) and simple (p = 0.003) accompaniment groups for relaxed/anxious as well as control and simple accompaniment groups for cheerful/depressed (p = 0.015) and well-coordinated/clumsy (p = 0.044). Participants in both simple and complex accompaniment conditions consistently had more favorable mood means than participants in the control group. Implications for curricula and clinical practice, limitations, and suggestions for future research are provided.