title: Music therapy CD creation for initial pediatric radiation therapy: a mixed methods analysis.
abstract: A mixed methods research design was used to investigate the effects of a music therapy CD (MTCD) creation intervention on pediatric oncology patients' distress and coping during their first radiation therapy treatment. The music therapy method involved children creating a music CD using interactive computer-based music software, which was "remixed" by the music therapist-researcher to extend the musical material. Eleven pediatric radiation therapy outpatients aged 6 to 13 years were randomly assigned to either an experimental group, in which they could create a music CD prior to their initial treatment to listen to during radiation therapy, or to a standard care group. Quantitative and qualitative analyses generated multiple perceptions from the pediatric patients, parents, radiation therapy staff, and music therapist-researcher. Ratings of distress during initial radiation therapy treatment were low for all children. The comparison between the two groups found that 67% of the children in the standard care group used social withdrawal as a coping strategy, compared to 0% of the children in the music therapy group; this trend approached significance (p = 0.076). MTCD creation was a fun, engaging, and developmentally appropriate intervention for pediatric patients, which offered a positive experience and aided their use of effective coping strategies to meet the demands of their initial radiation therapy treatment.
authors.affiliation: Peter MacCallum Cancer Center.
authors.forename: Philippa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barry
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O'Callaghan
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wheeler
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grocke
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D016250:Compact Disks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009146:Music / Q000523:psychology*; D009147:Music Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy; D002666:Psychology, Child; D011881:Radiotherapy, Computer-Assisted / Q000009:adverse effects; D012720:Severity of Illness Index