Musicians United for Seniors to Improve Care (MUSIC) Study

Summary

Music has a potential role in health care. In the geriatric population, music presents a non-pharmacological intervention which is easy to implement. Also, music has a potential role in order to improve patient's mobility. For example, it was also shown that the rhythmic component of music combined with physical exercise can improve gait variability which has been identified as a marker of gait instability and a fall predictor. This effect was previously shown in older community dwellers as a music-based intervention significantly improved gait and balance stability.

Considering that music was shown to have a positive impact on communication, emotions and depressive symptoms this intervention has the potential to make our patients more conscious of their environment, leading to an improved mobility.

Thus, the investigators hypothesize that patients who attend live music sessions (compared to controls) will demonstrate an improvement in their mobility measures. This effect could potentially be explained by the rhythmic effect of music and by the fact that live music sessions lead to an improved mood, communication, emotions, and an improved mobility.

* The primary objective of this study will be to determine if participation to live music sessions will be associated with an improvement in mobility which will be measured using the Times Up and Go (TUG) and gait speed when compared to a control group.
* The second objective of this study will be to determine if patients participating in live music sessions compared to a control group demonstrate an increase/improvement at the end of their music session in their mood (the Visual Analog Mood Scale (VAMS) will be used), in their positive emotions (the Observed Emotion Rating Scale (OERS) will be used) and communication behaviour (the CODEM (tool to assess communication behavior in dementia) instrument will be used).
* The third objective of this study will be to perform a "feasibility study". By measuring the variation in the different scales which will be used (see the third objective), the investigators will be able to determine how many participants will be necessary for an eventual larger scale study.

This will be a prospective open-label randomized control trial. The patients will be randomly assigned to a musical intervention or to a television intervention (control group). The patients will only attend one session in the context of this research project. Pre and post measures will be done.

Conditions

• Music
• Gait
• Emotions
• Communication

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Mood Assessment

Prior to and after the session, the patients will be asked to fill a VAMS (Visual Analog Mood Scale).

BEHAVIORAL

Emotion Assessment

During the sessions, the patients will be videotaped and the videotapes will be reviewed by 2 independent research assistants. With the use of the Observed Emotional Rating Scale (OERS), the research assistants will be able to assess the patients's emotions at the beginning and at the end of the session (they will analyse the first 10 and the last 10 minutes of the sessions).

BEHAVIORAL

Communication Assessment

During the sessions, the patients will be videotaped and the videotapes will be reviewed by 2 independent research assistants. With the use of the CODEM Scale, the research assistants will be able to assess the patients's emotions at the beginning and at the end of the session (they will analyse the first 10 and the last 10 minutes of the sessions).

OTHER

Mobility assessment

If deemed to be safe, the patients will undergo a gait speed assessment as well as a TUG (timed-up-and-go) prior to and after the sessions

OTHER

Music Intervention

The participants will listen to a 30 minute live music sessions which will be given by musicians (who is a volunteer)

OTHER

Documentary watching

The patients will watch a documentary for 30 minutes in the presence of a volunteer

Sponsors & Collaborators

• McGill University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-06-26

Primary Completion

2017-11-30

Completion

2017-11-30

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations