ESTRO 2024 - Abstract Book

S2943

Interdiscplinary - Other

ESTRO 2024

2126

Digital Poster

Music during treatment: what do your patients prefer?

Hevi Mahmoud 1 , Martijn Kamphuis 2 , Petra van der Vlist 3

1 LUMC, Radiotherapy, Leiden, Netherlands. 2 Inholland University of Applied Sciences, Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy, Haarlem, Netherlands. 3 Leiden University Medical Center, Radiotherapy, Leiden, Netherlands

Purpose/Objective:

Patients undergoing radiotherapeutic treatments may experience anxiety or nervousness. Music can be utilized to successfully reduce the stress during the treatment, optimizing the patient's experience during radiation. 1 This study aims to quantify the need for music during treatment in general. Furthermore, we try to identify specific subgroups of patients who can benefit the most from music during radiation.

Material/Methods:

This study was performed using a questionnaire containing eight closed questions in both digital and written formats. The questionnaire aimed to gather data concerning the respondent's gender, age, type of tumor currently undergoing treatment, to determine whether a specific group had a preference for music during the treatment. Additionally it sought to collect information regarding the level of anxiety and the preference of music during radiation therapy, using Likert scales. A suitable data analysis was conducted using the statistical package IBM SPSS Statistics software (SPSS), including the Mann-Whitney U-test, Kruskall-Wallis test, and Spearman's rank correlation.

Results:

In this study, data were collected through the distribution of printed surveys to approximately 90 individuals, alongside the online survey, which was made publicly available. In total, 70 patients completed the questionnaire. Among them, 69% of the patients indicated varying degrees of desire to listen to music during their treatment, ranging from neutral to favourable. Whereas, 16% of the patients indicated a dislike or strong disapproval of listening to music during the treatment. Across three different types of statistical analyses, a total of six tests were conducted. The Spearman’s rank correlation revealed a statistically significant (p=0.007), positive correlation (r=0,320) between the level of anxiety and the wish for music during treatment within the sample of 70 patients. Further analysis of the data didn’t reveal significant differences in the desire for music during radiation concerning gender, age and tumor type.

Conclusion:

This research demonstrated a significant portion of patients desiring music during radiotherapy. Patient characteristics (gender, age, and tumor type) did not demonstrably influence the patients' needs. Yet, there was a positive correlation between anxiety levels and the desire for music during radiation. This suggests that anxious patients find comfort in listening to music during radiation. However, this study did not directly evaluate the