Chronic Pain and Music Therapy

Pain & Therapy

The purpose of this research is to investigate whether music therapy intervention can reduce the effects of pain in subjects who have chronic pain from minor injuries. This research builds on past investigations of the potential role of music in pain therapy. There are often significant side effects to the use of pharmacological treatments for chronic pain, so it is important to evaluate properly any potential alternatives to such treatments. The null hypothesis for this study is that music therapy can reduce the pain experienced by patients. The alternative hypothesis is that music therapy is unproven as a means of pain reduction in patients suffering from chronic pain.

The literature shows that music therapy might be able to relieve pain from those who suffer from chronic pain, but there is not yet a substantial body of evidence to support this conclusion. The study will seek to add to the existing body of research that will either prove or disprove the null hypothesis for the seven research questions. The research should add to the body of existing literature on the subject, contributing to our understanding of how music therapy can be used in the treatment of pain.

Evaluation of Purpose of Study

The purpose of the study is valuable because this is an emerging field in nursing study. There has been some investigation of music therapy but at this point the body of evidence is too small to be conclusive. This study will add to that body of research. It is also likely that this study will reveal new areas for future study. There are many different dimensions that need to be understood better, in order that we advance the cause of evidence-based practice. For example, this study can help to provide information about specific types of pain and music, or specific types of music and pain. In the long run, a study like this will contribute to a greater body of evidence from which practitioners can derive specific treatment recommendations for music therapy. As such, there is tremendous value in a project such as this to the study of music therapy's potential as a treatment for chronic pain.

Effectiveness of Study Approach

Real world study is critical for devising solutions to real world problems. In this case, the research questions relate to the specific experiences of patients who suffer from chronic pain, and their responses to music therapy treatment. By building a body of evidence by which such reactions are measured, the entire field of nursing benefits. The use of real world study is important because the reactions of something as abstract as music on human sensation can only be measured by evaluating direct human experience. This study would not be possible using any other approach.

Difference Between Problem & Purpose Statement

The purpose statement is a reflection of the problem. Where the problem statement identifies the problem that lies at the heart of the research, the purpose statement explains how the research will contribute to the solving of that problem. The specific contribution of the research should be part of that purpose statement, giving the purpose statement specific focus from which the research questions can arise.

Research Design

The optimal research design is a controlled experiment, with human subjects, and their responses being recorded and tabulated.

Recruitment

There are millions of chronic pain sufferers in the United States. This makes recruitment relatively easy. There will be a call for volunteers to participate in the study. The volunteers will be selected in a completely randomized manner, after those under 18 and those who are not mentally competent have been excluded. While all participants will be self-selected, they will otherwise be drawn from the community at random.

Fair treatment of human subjects will be conducted in line with the guidelines standard to the industry. Matters of confidentiality will be guided by the Institutional Review Board Guidebook and each participant will be asked to sign that they understand their role in the project. All personal, confidential information will be secured. The principle of informed consent will be adhered to in the conduct of this study. We do not anticipate any significant ethical issues with the human subjects in this study, as we are already aware that music does not have adverse side effects.

Collection and Analysis of Data

The surveyor will ask questions of the participants. These questions will utilize a variety of answering techniques -- anecdotal, Likert scale and ordinal scale. The results will be tabulated. Those that can be subject to statistical analysis will be subjected to statistical analysis. Interviews will be the only data collection techniques, and the instruments will be pen and paper. Without a device to measure physical pain, we need to rely on the subject relaying his or her experiences in the interview.

Scope & Limitations

The study will be limited strictly to the seven research questions. Other issues will not be addressed. There are limitations with respect to the sampling, as the use of volunteers inherently means that the subjects are self-selected. While the pool will be narrowed down using randomized selection, the use of volunteers does create a limitation. It is possible that the self-selection process will not result in a fully randomized sample, which would restrict the ability of the researcher to apply the results to the broader population. In addition, the study is limited in the ability to record accurate pain data. The use of subject experience is inherently faulty and subject to both error and bias. In addition, if too few volunteers emerge, the study will be hampered in its statistical significance -- the sample size needs to be sufficiently large and diverse in order to be applied across the entire population.