The effect of individualized music on agitation for home-dwelling persons with dementia

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test the effect of individualized music on agitation for homedwelling patients with dementia. Method: One group pre-post test was used for research design and a total of 26 subjects participated in this study. Individualized music intervention was subjects’ listening to their preferred music for 30 minutes prior to peak agitation time twice a week for a total of four sessions. The subject’s agitation levels were measured for three different points: thirty minutes prior to listening to music, 30 minutes while listening to the music, and after listening to the music throughout the 4 sessions. To measure the agitation level, the modified CohenMansfield Agitation Inventory was used. A Paired ttest was used for data analysis. Results: Most subjects were female (73.1%), Caucasian (92.4%), Protestant (50%), and independent activity (53.8%). The mean of the subjects’ MMSE scores was 8.08 (8.17). The most favorite music types included country/western music (31.0%), religious music (26.9%), and big band (26.9%). Agitation level decreased while listening to the music compared to the baseline (t = 3.70, p < .001). Conclusion: The findings of this study would provide meaningful data to develop an individualized music intervention protocol to control agitation for homedwelling patients with dementia.