None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
This three-phase interdisciplinary and collaborative project funded by the Australian Research Council. It draws together researchers from the fields of music composition and performance, sound art, emergency medicine and clinical psychology to determine the effect of sound and music on the anxiety of patients located in the Emergency department at St Vincent’s Hospital - Melbourne. Phase one of the project will involve the development of sample soundtracks and musical compositions by a PhD Candidate from the School of Art, RMIT. A total of 20 soundtracks of 60 seconds duration will be created; 10 that are electronic/acoustic and 10 that are environmentally based (e.g., rain sounds). In Phase two, 250 ED patients that consent to participate will be provided with the specially created soundwork samples to listen to using headphones. Patient impressions of and responses to the specially created soundtracks will be evaluated through a purpose designed questionnaire. This information will be considered in the development of two longer soundtracks for use in Phase 3. The soundtracks will be of 30 minutes duration. One will be electronic/acoustic and one will be environmentally based. Phase three (clinical trial) will investigate whether specific soundtracks and musical compositions decrease the anxiety of ED patients. Patients that are triaged as having a condition that is of moderate acuity (Australasian Triage Category 3) will be approached by a researcher during their ED visit for participation in the study. Consenting patients will be given two validated scales: one that rates their self-reported level of anxiety and one that assesses their level of satisfaction with emergency care received. They will then be randomly allocated to one of five groups based, one for each types of sound work to be tested. Patients in group 1 will be given no soundwork intervention. Group 2 will receive a 30 minute soundtrack of re-constructed ambient sound simulating the emergency department to listen to via headphones. Those allocated to group 3 will be given a 30 minute soundtrack of electronic/acoustic sound. Those in Group 4 will be given a 30 minute soundtrack of environmentally based sound, and those in group 5 will be given a 30 minute soundtrack that uses binaural beat (alternating frequency) which is known to induce a mild meditative state. At the conclusion of the 30 minute period, patients allocated to each of the four groups will be given the anxiety and satisfaction surveys to complete again.
Interventions
Sound works and binaural beat audio of a half hour duration will be assessed for their ability to affect anxiety in emergency department patients. Soundworks include musical and non-musical sound compositions. These may take the form of sounds derived from nature or urban environments and electro-acoustic instruments. Binaural beats or binaural tones are auditory processing artifacts, or apparent sounds. They are perceived in the brain independent of physical stimuli. Two sounds that are similar
Sound works and binaural beat audio of a half hour duration will be assessed for their ability to affect anxiety in emergency department patients. Soundworks include musical and non-musical sound compositions. These may take the form of sounds derived from nature or urban environments and electro-acoustic instruments. Binaural beats or binaural tones are auditory processing artifacts, or apparent sounds. They are perceived in the brain independent of physical stimuli. Two sounds that are similar but slightly different in frequency will beat to produce two new frequencies, the sum and the difference of the original two sounds. These interventions will be applied to participants as electronic files audible through headphones. The interventions are given to participants after they have received medical assessment. This will occur at a point in time after initial assessment by the triage nurse (up to four hours in some cases). All patients will be located in a emergency cubicle.
Sponsors
St. Vincent's Hospital Melbourne
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Factorial
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Emergency Department Patients that are classified as Triage category Three using the Australasian triage scale.
Exclusion criteria
Patients that do not speak English, and that cannot consent including those highly dependent on medical care and those that care cognitively impaired.
Outcome results
None listed