Reduction in salivary cortisol level by music therapy during colonoscopic examination.
OBJECTIVE
Premedication for endoscopy promotes patient cooperation and makes subsequent examinations more acceptable. Music therapy is widely used in the treatment of acute and chronic pain. Therefore, we investigated the effects of music therapy on pain and on salivary cortisol levels in patients undergoing screening colonoscopy.


METHODS
The subjects were 29 consecutive patients undergoing colonoscopy for various reasons. Patients were randomly assigned to undergo colonoscopy while listening to music (n=15) or while not listening to music (n=14). Cortisol levels were measured in samples of saliva obtained before and after colonoscopy. After colonoscopy, patients were asked to rate their maximum pain during colonoscopy.


RESULTS
Patients who listened to music during colonoscopy tended to have lower pain scores. Salivary cortisol levels increased significantly less in the group receiving music.


CONCLUSIONS
Music therapy during colonoscopy markedly reduces fear-related stress, as indicated by changes in salivary cortisol levels.
Uedo
Noriya
N
Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases, Japan. uedou-no@mc.pref.osaka.jp
Ishikawa
Hideki
H
Morimoto
Kanehisa
K
Ishihara
Ryu
R
Narahara
Hiroyuki
H
Akedo
Ikuko
I
Ioka
Tatsuya
T
Kaji
Itaru
I
Fukuda
Sanae
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003113:Colonoscopy / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009147:Music Therapy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control*
D006854:Hydrocortisone