MedTrace Logo

The Effectiveness of Piano Therapy vs. Piano Listening on Manual Dexterity in the Elderly

NCT03372031 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 20

Last updated 2017-12-15

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Does active piano practice help recover hand dexterity in older adults, or does social interaction and music-listening alone affect motor performance? Researchers hypothesized improved dexterity after active piano playing, but not after passive piano listening. 15 residents of a retirement community were partnered together and completed 2 two-week piano training modules. In module 1, one partner played piano exercises and songs while the other listened. In module 2, partners switched roles. The Purdue Pegboard Test and Box and Block Test assessed fine and gross motor dexterity, before, between, and after the training modules. A repeated measures ANOVA showed a main effect of time on overall fine and gross motor function, but there was no main effect of playing versus listening. Results did not support the hypothesis, but indicate that piano-based therapy requires greater than 2 weeks to begin improving dexterity and may influenced co-occurring socialization.

Conditions

  • Aging
  • Manual Dexterity
  • Piano Therapy

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Piano training (Active)

Piano Curriculum. Participants were all trained on one of four 88-key pianos located in the assisted living facility. Piano instructors were 6 undergraduate Music Education and Music Performance majors. Each lesson of the week had a different focus: right and left hands separately, bimanually coupled, and bimanually uncoupled (Loehrer et al., 2016). Each week of the module had a different focus as well: notes played one step apart, notes played multiple steps apart (intervals), and tones played together (two-note chords) (van Vugt et al., 2016; Villeneuve et al., 2014). Each session began with skill exercises and ended with learning a simple, recognizable song. Two participants with extensive piano experience progressed to playing duets with the instructor and hymns out of a hymnal after mastery of the study curriculum. These training protocols were based on those of Schneider and colleagues' 2007 study.

BEHAVIORAL

Piano Training (Passive)

Participants listened to their research partner complete 8 active piano training sessions across 2 weeks.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Westminster College

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age
70 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2017-08-30
Primary Completion
2017-10-21
Completion
2017-12-01

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT03372031 on ClinicalTrials.gov