title: Parents' attitudes and expectations about music's impact on pediatric oncology patients.
abstract: Clinicians often have positive attitudes about the clinical effects of music. To better understand barriers to providing music in the clinic, we describe parents' attitudes about music for pediatric oncology outpatients. A cross-sectional survey was conducted between January 2005 and October 2007 in a pediatric oncology clinic in a tertiary hospital. Eligible subjects were one parent of pediatric leukemia patients. Surveys were distributed at a routine clinic visit as part of a study on the effects of music on subjective and objective well-being. Of the 67 eligible families, 45 (67%) parents responded; 82% reported playing music for the patient at home within the previous week. The most common reasons to use music for the patient were to entertain (88%), keep the patient company (71%), help the patient feel better (76%), or provide comfort (69%); fewer used music to distract the patient from pain (16%) or nausea (11%). Parents expected that music during clinic visits would have positive effects: relaxation (64%), comfort (42%), and/or distraction (33%); none expected negative effects. Parents often play music for their children, and they hold favorable attitudes about playing it in the clinic. Parents' attitudes are not barriers to providing music in the clinic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA. kkemper@wfubmc.edu
authors.forename: Kathi J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kemper
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: McLean
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009146:Music / Q000523:psychology*; D010045:Outpatients; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires