Effects of motivational music on sleep quality for caregivers of patients with advanced cancer: a randomized controlled trial.

To investigate the benefits of listening to pre-bedtime music on sleep quality and daytime sleepiness for family caregivers of palliative care patients at home. Multicenter, randomized controlled clinical trial. Seventy-six caregivers were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 38) and control (n = 38) groups. The intervention group listened to individually chosen music for 30 min before bedtime for 7 days, and the control group listened to pre-recorded basic nursing education messages. The primary endpoint was the change in global subjective sleep quality, evaluated via the global Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score. Secondary endpoints included daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale [ESS]), accelerometer-derived sleep parameters, and client satisfaction (CSQ-8). Significant intergroup differences favoring the music intervention were observed in the mean changes from baseline for the primary endpoint of global sleep quality (PSQI Global Score: + 0.60 vs. + 2.05 points; p = 0.006). Descriptive intergroup differences favoring the intervention were observed for subjective nighttime sleep duration (+ 0.55 h; 95% CI 0.19 to 0.94) and daytime sleepiness (ESS: -2.74 points; 95% CI -4.11 to -0.56). Post-intervention satisfaction was significantly higher in the music group (CSQ-8: 27.61 vs. 24.63 points). Listening to pre-bedtime music maintains global subjective sleep quality for family caregivers in a home palliative care setting. Furthermore, exploratory signals suggest it may also prolong subjective sleep duration and reduce daytime sleepiness. The study is registered at Clinical Trials.gov, NCT04491110. Date: 29 July 2020.