Evaluating the Effect of Music Intervention on Hypertension

The relevance of music in medical applications has been a subject of research for a long time. In the present study we evaluate the response of music interventions (Indian classical music) on elderly hypertensive participants. A randomized controlled assessment was done on 200 hypertensive participants, living in old age homes, and they were randomly segregated into two groups, viz. control and experimental. The means of the dependent variables (heart rate, respiratory rate (RR) and mean arterial pressure (MAP)) were compared using independent t-test between control and experimental groups. There was significant reduction in heart rate (P < 0.0001), MAP (P < 0.0001) and RR (P < 0.0001) for the experimental group, whereas there was no change in heart rate (P = 0.113) and MAP (P = 0.364) for pre- and post-conditions (after one month) of the control group. However, significant reduction in mean RR (P < 0.005) was noted for control as well as for experimental group (P < 0.0001). The heart rate and MAP of the control group did not vary greatly under the influence of drugs. On the other hand, the difference in heart rate and MAP declined after music interventions for a period of one month. It is concluded that the experimental group preferred high valence and low arousal music which resulted in the reduction of heart rate and MAP.