Music Therapy as a Treatment for Delirium in Acutely Hospitalized Older Patients

Delirium is a neuropsychiatric syndrome characterized by an acute alteration in attention, awareness, arousal and cognition, precipitated by an acute illness, intoxication, trauma or surgery. It is highly prevalent in older, frail and acutely hospitalized patients, and associated with poor outcomes, with few effective treatment alternatives. Non-pharmacological interventions and music show promising effects. This study protocol aims to determine whether music interventions (MIs) delivered by a credentialed music therapist, are feasible and effective for regulating delirium symptoms in acute geriatric patients and whether the standardized delirium tools are sensitive to detect observable responses. Primary, feasibility outcomes are evaluating recruitment rate, treatment fidelity and adherence, as well as feasibility and accuracy in data collection procedures. Main effect-outcome is delirium severity, but delirium duration, cognitive status, length of hospital stay, and medication use will also be recorded. The randomised repeated measures controlled trial design will record the participant responses before and after exposure to MIs (+/- 2 hours). Participants with delirium from an acute geriatric ward will be randomized to either live or recorded MI. Each intervention will be delivered to n=30 participants (n=60 in total), for 30 minutes, over three consecutive days. Ethical approval has been obtained from Regional Ethics Committee South East Norway.