The Influence of Music Choice on Pain Tolerance in the Context of Social Background (MOSART)

Markus Klimek

Status: Completed

Conditions: Analgesia; Pain

Treatments: Other: Listening to a podcast; Other: Listening to music

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06008951

MEC-2023-0253 (Other Identifier)

NL84165.078.23

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study will investigate the effect of different music on the pain tolerance during an increasing electric stimulus in healthy individuals, taking social background into account.

Full description

The implementation of music in health care settings has shown promising results in alleviating stress, anxiety, and pain-related outcomes. However, the heterogeneity in music selection and characteristics across clinical trials has made it difficult to draw direct comparisons between different music interventions. Additionally, the influence of social background on music perception remains largely unexplored, despite its potential significance. Therefore, a collaboration of medical and sociological experts propose a randomized controlled trial to investigate the effects of two different music interventions on pain tolerance, taking into account the participants' social backgrounds. The primary objective of this study is to assess the impact of self-chosen and researcher-chosen music compared to a control intervention (podcast) on pain tolerance among healthy female volunteers at the outpatient clinic of the Center of Pain Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam.

Enrollment: 84 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18 to 60 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Between 18 and 60 years of age
• Female
• Sufficient knowledge of the Dutch language to understand the study documents (in the judgement of the attending physician or researcher)
• Provision of written informed consent by subject

Exclusion criteria

• Significant hearing impairment
• Current complaints of tinnitus
• Current use of analgesic medication
• Presence of acute or chronic pain
• Current treatment by a medical specialist or general practitioner
• History of cardiac disease of arrhythmias
• (Suspected) pregnancy
• Diagnosed psychiatric or neurological impairments
• Electric implants (e.g. pacemakers)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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84 participants in 3 patient groups

Self-chosen music

Experimental group

Description:

The self-chosen music playlist will be assembled by the participant in advance.

Treatment:

Other: Listening to music

Researcher-chosen music

Experimental group

Description:

The researcher-chosen music playlists will primarily be composed by the Music as Medicine research group from Erasmus Medical Center, based on current expert opinion. The playlist will be created with the goal to help while experiencing pain based on previous literature.

Treatment:

Other: Listening to music

Podcast (control)

Active Comparator group

Description:

The choice of podcast will be based on expert opinion of the sociology department of the Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Treatment:

Other: Listening to a podcast