What distinguishes MusiCure from other kinds of music is the fact that composer Niels Eje from the very beginning has based the creation of this music on feedback and results from clinical studies with music for healing for hospitalized patients.

The initiative to start this research came from Professor MD, Lars Heslet from Copenhagen University Hospital, who launched the initial pilot projects with intensive care patients at the largest ICU in Copenhagen. In 2007 MusiCure and composer Niels Eje, together with executive producer Inge Mulvad Eje, received the prestigious 1st prize professional at the Blair Sadler healing arts competition in Nashville, TN, USA.

The following studies were completed by independent researchers on the benefits of MusiCure as treatment. Since 2003, independent researchers and healthcare professionals from several countries have carried out a series of clinical research studies with MusiCure and the results of these studies and controlled trials are currently published in a number of domestic and international medical journals listed below:

Author: Tiziana Quarto, Giuseppe Blasi, Karen Johanne Pallesen, Alessandro Bertolino, Elvira Brattico. An international research team from Finland, Denmark, Switzerland and Italy

Country: Finland

Medical Journal: Plos One – open access online publication

Year: 2014

Objective/Aim: In this study we tested whether a relaxing or irritating sound environment affects implicit processing of facial expressions. And how individual traits of anxiety and emotional control interact with this process

Methods: 32 healthy subjects performed an implicit emotion processing task while the sound environment was defined either by A) a therapeutic music sequence (MusiCure), B) a noise sequence or C) silence.

Results: Results showed a better mood after the MusiCure condition compared with the other experimental conditions and faster responses to happy faces during MusiCure compared with angry faces during Noise. Moreover, individuals with higher trait anxiety were faster in performing the implicit emotion processing task during MusiCure compared with Silence.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that sound-induced affective states are associated with differential responses to angry and happy emotional faces at an implicit stage of processing, and that a relaxing sound environment facilitates the implicit emotional processing in anxious individuals.

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Author: Torben Egelund Sørensen* Jørgen Tybjerg**
*Candidate in Music therapy Psychiatric Department, Horsens Hospital, Denmark
** MD, Consultant Psychiatrist, Psychiatric Department, Horsens Hospital, Denmark

Country: Denmark

Medical Journal: Music Therapy in Psychiatry’ Annual Paper 2005 (Musikterapi i Psykiatrien – Årsskrift 2005)

Year: 2005

Objective/Aim: The goal of the study was to investigate whether the use of specially designed music (MusiCure, ‘music as medicine’) would have a positive effect on patients suffering from anxiety and distress

Methods: Thirty patients were treated using MusiCure one or more times during treatment at the psychiatric ward

Results: Out of 30 patients 26 demonstrated a positive effect from the treatment: they calmed down and/or fell asleep. One patient demonstrated no effect, and for three patients the treatment had a negative effect.

Conclusion: The combined results of the study suggest that MusiCure can be used to treat both psychotic and non-psychotic patients, and that MusiCure used in isolation or in combination with a ball blanket might be an alternative to the use of on-demand medication.

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Author: Ulrica Nilsson, Professor, School of Health and Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Sweden

Country: Sweden

Medical Journal: Heart & Lung

Year: 2009

Objective/Aim: To evaluate the effect of bed rest with music on the first postoperative day to decrease stress for patients who have undergone heart surgery.

Methods: Randomized controlled trial, including physiological measurements. A 30 minute MusiCure program was played through an audio pillow for the music group during bed rest.

Results: After 30 minutes of bed rest, there was a significant difference in s-cortisol levels between the groups; 484. 4 mmol/L in the music group versus 618.8 mmol/L in the control group (P<.02). Conclusion: There is sufficient practical evidence of stress reduction to suggest that a proposed regimen of listening to music while resting in bed after open heart surgery be put into clinical use.

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Author: Ulrica Nilsson, Professor, School of Health and Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Sweden

Country: Sweden

Medical Journal: Journal of Clinical Nursing

Year: 2009

Objective/Aim: To evaluate the effect of bed rest with music on relaxation for patients who have undergone heart surgery on postoperative day one.

Methods: Randomized controlled trial, including physiological measurements. A 30 minute MusiCure program was played through an audio pillow for the music group during bed rest.

Results: In the music group, levels of oxytocin increased significantly in contrast to the control group for which the trend over time was negative i.e., decreasing values. Subjective relaxation levels increased significantly more and there were also a significant higher levels of PaO2 in the music group compared to the control group.

Conclusion: Randomized controlled trial, including physiological measurements. A 30 minute MusiCure program was played through an audio pillow for the music group during bed rest.

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Author: Stefan Nilsson†, Eva Kokinsky*, Ulrica Nilsson‡, Birgitta Sidenwall† & Karin Enskär†Department of Paediatric Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Unit, The Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, †Department of Nursing Science, School of Health Sciences, Jönköping University, Jönköping and ‡Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care and Centre for Health Care Sciences, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden

Country: Sweden

Medical Journal: Pediatric Anesthesia

Year: 2009

Objective/Aim: To test whether postoperative music listening reduces morphine consumption and influence pain, distress, and anxiety after day surgery.

Methods: Data were recorded from 80 children aged 7–16. Forty participants were randomized to music medicine and another 40 participants to a control group.

Conclusion: We found evidence that children in the music group received less morphine in the postoperative care unit.

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Author:Ann-Charlotte Fredriksson(a,b), Leif Hellström(b), Ulrica Nilsson(c)
a) Dep. Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Malmoe University Hospital, Sweden
b) Faculty of Health and Society, Department of Nursing, Malmö University, Sweden
c) Dep. Anesthesia and Intensive Care/Centre for Health Care Sciences,
Örebro University Hospital, Sweden

Country: Sweden

Medical Journal: Intensive and Critical Care Nursing

Year: 2009

Objective/Aim: (1) to test the hypothesis that patients will experience a higher degree of wellbeing if they listen to music compared to ordinary PACU sounds during their early postopera- tive care, (2) to determine if there is a difference over time, and (3) to evaluate the importance of the acoustic environment and whether patients prefer listening to music during their stay.

Methods: An experimental single-blind crossover design study in a postanaesthesia care unit (PACU).

Results: The results demonstrated a significant difference (p<0.001) between groups in the proportions of patients reporting that the acoustic environment was of great importance for their wellbeing during the three-phase intervention. Conclusion: These findings promote use of listening to music to establish a healing environment for patients in a postanaesthesia care unit.

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Author: Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, Seattle, Washington, USA.

Country: USA

Year: 2011

Background: A cardiac catheterization laboratory can be a frightening environment and music can be a supportive source of environmental sound that stimulates and maintains relaxation.

Aim: To test the effects of patient focused music versus loudspeaker music versus standard sound on patient’s experiences of anxiety and well-being during coronary angiographic procedures.

Methods: A prospective, randomized, controlled trial of 98 subjects undergoing elective coronary angiogram and/or percutaneous coronary intervention. The subjects were randomly allocated to three different groups of sound environments: a control group (the usual sound environment), a patient focused music group (audio pillow) or to a loudspeaker music group.

Results: Anxiety decreased significantly and well-being increased significantly in the two music groups compared to the control group. There was a significantly more positive impression of the sound environment in the patient focused music group compared to the two other groups.

Conclusion: This study showed that the use of a specially designed music reduced anxiety and increased well-being in patients during coronary angiographic procedures. However, patient focused music seemed to be more preferable. The sound environment was rated more positively by the subjects listening to music via audio pillow. The music delivered via loudspeakers seemed to distract the staff during the examination at the cardiac catheterization laboratory.

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Author: Per Thorgaard(a), Ellen Ertmann(a), Vibeke Hansen(a), Anni Noerregaard(b), Vibeke Hansen(b), Lene Spanggaard(c) a Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Aalborg Sygehus, Aarhus University Hospital, DK-9100 Aalborg, Denmark
 bDepartment of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Odense University Hospital, Denmark
c Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Skejby Sygehus, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.

Country:  Denmark

Medical Journal: Intensive and Critical Care Nursing

Year: 2005

Objective/Aim: A multicentre study in five postanaesthesia care units (PACUs) was performed to investigate patient and staff opinion of a specially designed music environment (DME), related to geographical location

Methods: Randomized controlled trial, including physiological measurements. A 30 minute MusiCure program was played through an audio pillow for the music group during bed rest.

Results: Patients (325) and staff (91) described their opinion by means of a questionnaire–anonymously in the case of staff. Patients were not asked beforehand for permission to play music.

Conclusion: Amongst patients 267 (83%) found the sound environment with DME pleasant or very pleasant, 26 (6%) found it unpleasant, whereas 32 (11%) answered “no opinion”.

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Author: Bitten Thorgaard, Birgitte Brøndsted Henriksen, Gunhild Pedersbæk, Inger Thomsen
All: Cardiac Laboratory, Heart Center Aalborg, Arhus University Hospital, Denmark

Country: Denmark

Medical Journal: European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing

Year: 2004

Objective/Aim: To investigate the effect of a specially selected music sound environment on the feeling of wellbeing of adult, lightly sedated patients in a Cardiac Catheter Laboratory undergoing invasive procedures.

Methods: Patients (ns193) were randomly assigned to either a music group, who listened to music during the procedure (ns99) or to a non-music group (ns94).

Results: In the music group 91% of the patients defined the sound environment as very pleasant/pleasant–compared to 56% in the non music group.

Conclusion: Specially selected music had a positive effect on the wellbeing of patients and their opinion on the sound environment during invasive cardiac procedures. We suggest that specially selected music should be a part of the sound environment in the Cardiac Catheter Laboratory.

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Author: M. Graversen and T. Sommer
 Department of Surgery, Randers Region Hospital, Randers, Denmark

Country: Denmark

Medical Journal: Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica

Year: 2013

Objective/Aim: Ninety-three patients were included and randomized to either soft music or no music perioperatively and post-operatively.

Methods: The study was performed as a randomized, clinical trial. Using visual analog score pain, nausea and fatigue at baseline, 1 h, 3 h, 1 day and 7 days after surgery were recorded. C-reactive protein and cortisol were sampled before and after surgery.

Results: The music group had less pain day 7 (P = 0.014). The music group experienced less fatigue at day 1 (P = 0.042) and day 7 (P = 0.015). Cortisol levels decreased during surgery in the music group (428.5–348.0 nmol/l), while it increased in the non-music group (443.5–512.0 nmol/l). Soft music did not affect C-reactive protein levels.

Conclusion: Soft music (MusiCure) did not reduce pain 3 h after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Soft music may reduce later post- operative pain and fatigue by decreasing the surgical stress response (cortisol levels).

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Pulawska T., Gerhardt M., Sondergaard, S. and Zerahn,B.

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