Why it is important to do this review
In its early years, music therapy was established in selected hospitals, by enthusiastic individuals (Mössler 2011), on the basis of
successful case histories. The degree to which music therapy is
available still varies greatly across and even within countries. As
music therapy is becoming more established as a profession and as
a service in mental health care, the need for documented evidence
of its effects increases.
O B J E C T I V E S
To review the effects of music therapy, or music therapy added
to standard care, compared with placebo therapy, standard care
or no treatment for people with serious mental disorders such as
schizophrenia.
M E T H O D S
Criteria for considering studies for this review
Types of studies
All relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs). If a trial was
described in a way that implied that the study was randomised,
we included such trials in a sensitivity analysis. If there was no
substantive difference within primary outcomes (see types of outcome measures) when these ’implied randomisation’ studies were
added, then we included them in the final analysis. If there was
a substantive difference, we only used randomised trials and we
described the results of the sensitivity analysis in the text. We excluded quasi-randomised studies, such as those allocating by using
alternate days of the week.
Types of participants
People with schizophrenia or any other non-affective serious mental disorders, diagnosed by any criteria, irrespective of gender, age
or nationality.
Types of interventions
1. Music therapy or music therapy added to standard care
Music therapy is defined as “a systematic process of intervention
wherein the therapist helps the client to promote health, using
musicexperiencesandthe relationshipsthatdevelopthrough them
as dynamic forces of change” (Bruscia 1998). This definition of
music therapy is rather broad and inclusive of different models,