Can Personalized Music Reduce Agitated Behaviors in Patients With Alzheimer Disease, Dementia?

In a cluster-randomized controlled trial, researchers found that a personalized music intervention reduced verbally agitated behaviors in nursing home residents with Alzheimer disease or related dementias.

Agitation is a common and challenging symptom in patients with Alzheimer disease and related dementia. This study sought to evaluate whether personalized music could help reduce agitated behaviors in patients with Alzheimer disease and dementia, addressing gaps in previous research on music therapy's efficacy.

Participants were randomly assigned to either the intervention group, which received personalized music of the participant’s preference via a music device, or the control group. The primary outcome was the frequency of agitated behaviors, assessed using the Agitated Behavior Mapping Instrument during structured 3-minute observations.

The researchers found that participants in the intervention group had fewer observations of verbally agitated behaviors (marginal interaction effect [MIE], 0.061; 95% CI, 0.028-0.061) and were more likely to experience pleasure (MIE, 0.038; 95% CI, 0.008-0.073) compared to those in the control group. However, there were no significant differences between the groups in physically agitated behaviors, anger, fear, alertness, or sadness.

The study was limited by the short duration of observations, which may not fully capture the range of agitated behaviors, and by the reliance on structured observations, which, while reducing bias, may not reflect real-world conditions.

“Personalized music may be effective at reducing verbally agitated behaviors in nursing home residents with dementia, offering a promising non-pharmacological approach,” the study authors concluded.

Reference

Sisti A, Gutman R, Mor V, et al. Using structured observations to evaluate the effects of a personalized music intervention on agitated behaviors and mood in nursing home residents with dementia. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2024 Mar;43(3)300-311. Doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2023.10.016.