The effect of a music-based care intervention on neuropsychiatric symptoms: secondary analysis of a cluster-randomised controlled study in nursing home residents with dementia and pain

Abstract Background Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are highly prevalent in nursing home residents. The main aims of this study were to examine whether music-based care (MBC) had sustained effects on NPS in nursing home residents with dementia and chronic pain and to describe the distribution of NPS. Methods A secondary analysis of a cluster-randomised controlled trial with intervention and control groups was performed. The 8-week MBC intervention included daily individualised prerecorded music integration. A large sample of nursing home residents with dementia and chronic pain in 12 nursing homes in Norway were screened for pain and dementia by experts and included in the study. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory Nursing Home Edition (NPI-NH) was completed for the residents at pre-test and after the 8-week MBC intervention. Descriptive statistics were used to characterise the sample, and multilevel mixed model analysis assessed the difference in change in NPI-NH scores before and after the intervention between the groups. Results The sample (n = 232) had a mean age of 86 years (SD 8.8), with 71% being female. Overall, 41%, 38% and 21% had severe, moderate or mild dementia, respectively, while 77% had moderate pain and 23% severe pain. Over two-thirds (68%) of the sample had at least one clinically important (≥ 4) NPI-NH symptom at pre-test, with mean NPI-NH total score of 19 (range 0–89). The most commonly identified NPI-NH subcategories were agitation (44%), affective symptoms (34%) and psychosis (25%) at pre-test. There was no significant difference in changes either comparing the NPI-NH total score (p = 0.396) (confidence interval: CI [–2.6 to 6.6]) between the intervention group (n = 108) and the control group (n = 124) or comparing any of the three NPI subcategories: psychosis (p = 0.203) (CI [–0.5 to 2.3]), agitation (p = 0.830) (CI [–2.3 to 1.8]) or affective symptoms (p = 0.447) (CI [–0.9 to 2.1]). Conclusions No statistically significant sustained effect of the MBC intervention on NPI symptoms was found among residents with dementia and chronic pain. Future studies should include measurement points closer to the intervention to evaluate short-term effects of MBC. Trial registration Data were collected from June 2020 until June 2021 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04229446), registered 9/10/2019.