Effect of Music Therapy on Pain in People With Multiple Sclerosis

Summary

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory, demyelinating and progressive neurological disease of the central nervous system, often seen between the ages of 20-30. Pain is a very common symptom in people with MS, with a prevalence of 63%. Pain in MS is a symptom that negatively affects individuals' fatigue, anxiety and depression levels, quality of life and sleep quality. In addition, chronic pain affects individuals' autonomic and cognitive functions. Music therapy is defined as the systematic use of music in a therapeutic relationship that aims to improve, maintain and develop emotional, physical and mental health. Music therapy protocols synchronized with heart rate can be effective on chronic pain through the regulation of the autonomic nervous system and activation of the parasympathetic nervous system. Studies indicate that music therapy, regardless of the population applied, is effective in the management of symptoms such as pain, depression and anxiety. Motor imagery training is a method that regulates cerebral cortex activity by exposing the brain to visual information and imagination, reduces abnormal cortical activation, and thus restores the brain's ability to change. Research indicates that the most effective motor imagery training in reducing pain is motor imagery training presented in a protocol graded from simple to complex motor tasks.

The grading principle applied in motor imagery training in the form of imagining movements from simple to complex and music therapy training presented in a rhythm matched with heart rate rhythm are effective approaches on chronic pain. It is thought that the treatment protocol in which these two methods are combined and their therapeutic effects are combined in MS rehabilitation may be more effective on pain and related factors in MS. The aim of the study is to show the effects of telerehabilitation-based heart rate-synchronized music therapy protocols on pain, heart rate, fatigue, anxiety, depression, quality of life, sleep quality, and information processing speed compared to MS individuals who continue their routine treatments.

45 MS people with chronic pain will be included in the planned randomized controlled trial. The included participants will be randomized into 3 groups with 15 participants in each group. The evaluations will be performed three times before treatment, at 8th (post-treatment evaluation) and 12th weeks (follow-up evaluation). The participants' general pain intensity in the last 2 and 7 days, the presence of neuropathic pain, fatigue level, anxiety and depression levels, sleep quality, health-related quality of life and information processing speed will be evaluated. In addition, heart rate variability will be evaluated in order to evaluate the participants' autonomic functions. Telerehabilitation-based music therapy application will be given to the participants 2 days a week for 8 weeks using a videoconferencing platform under the guidance of a physiotherapist. The heart rates of the participants will be monitored throughout the session. The participants included in the first group will visualize the movements presented with the metronome sound in a rhythm matched to their heart rates, while the participants included in the second group will listen to relaxing/relaxing music without lyrics in a rhythm matched to their heart rates. When synchronization is achieved between the music rhythm and the heart rate in both groups, the music rhythm will be reduced. Participants included in the 3rd group will continue their routine treatment and will be evaluated only three times: at the beginning, after the 8th week and after the 12th week. The results obtained from this study will examine the effects of heart rate synchronized music therapy protocols on pain, autonomic function and psychosocial parameters in individuals with chronic pain and MS.

Conditions

• Multiple Sclerosis, MS

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Heart rate synchronized motor imagery music therapy

Participants included in this group will listen a metronome sound in a rhythm synchronized with their heart rate.

BEHAVIORAL

Heart rate synchronized music therapy

Participants included in this group will listen to soothing/relaxing music without lyrics in a rhythm synchronized with their heart rate.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK)

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Istanbul Bilgi University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-03-01

Primary Completion

2026-12-01

Completion

2027-12-01

Countries

• Turkey (Türkiye)

Study Locations