Soothe the savage beast: Patient perceptions of the benefits of music therapy in an inpatient rehabilitation facility

Introduction: Despite the known benefits of music therapy (MT) and its potential applications in an inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF), there remains a lack of access to MT in a significant number of hospitals in the United States. Exploration of stakeholder (e.g., physician, therapist, and patient) perceptions as a potential barrier to uptake has been limited. Objective: To assess the favorability of patients admitted to an IRF toward MT through the domains of knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs. We hypothesized that patient domain scores would reflect a favorable perception of MT across rehabilitation diagnoses. Design: Descriptive and cross-sectional survey. Setting: Free-standing, acute IRF. Patients: A total of 119 English-speaking, adult patients across three impairment categories (general rehabilitation, spinal cord injury, and brain injury) were recruited over a 3-month period and during each patient's hospital stay. Intervention: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: A modified version of the Global Complementary/Alternative and Music Therapy Assessment (GCAMTA) measured the domains of knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs. Results: An overall response rate of 79.3% was achieved. Most patients (n = 95; 79.8%) scored in either the favorable or neutral ranges of the instrument. Age correlated negatively (r = −0.193, p <.05) with total score, whereas highest level of education correlated positively (r_s = 0.222, p <.05). There were no significant differences in scores across impairment categories (V = 0.068, p =.232). Knowledge scores, controlling for education and age, predicted 30.4% of the variance in attitudes and beliefs scores (R² = 0.304, p <.001). Conclusions: It is unlikely that patient perceptions are a barrier to MT uptake. Younger, more educated patients have higher knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about MT. Increasing patient knowledge about MT may improve their attitudes and beliefs, thereby further optimizing this therapy for widespread use.