Musical Mindfulness for Pain in the ED Waiting Room

NCT07391891 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: STUDY00000311
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 60
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Studies have shown that 60-70% of patients in the Emergency Department (ED) experience pain. With pain being such a broad issue in the ED, the ED is expected to deliver safe and effective treatment of pain. However, with the current ongoing opioid epidemic, it is important to consider other methods, both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic, of pain reduction. Jazz music specifically has been demonstrated to have therapeutic effects on pain that can be used to lower the quantity of opioids administered to patients. Non-pharmacological interventions in the emergency department for pain typically consist of splinting an injury, applying heat or cold, or various distractions following initial and sequential pain assessment. Pharmacological interventions for pain in the Emergency Department involve the administration of acetaminophen, muscle relaxers, topical anesthetics, opioids, to name a few. In the emergency department (ED), providers are increasingly hesitant to prescribe opioids over the past decade due to the current opioid epidemic, in which there is an increasing proportion of people that develop an addiction to opioids, including those that are prescribed to them for pain management.. While emergency medicine providers' decrease in opioid prescriptions pertains to their implementation of opioid-prescribing policies, little evidence has been found demonstrating a direct link in these policies to decreases in substance misuse. Consequently, providers find themselves needing to become ingenious in their approach to pain in patients through the integration of pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic mediums of analgesia. A recent randomized controlled trial (RCT) from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston sought to identify the qualitative responses from patients in the ED following the arbitrary distribution of either supervised or unsupervised music therapy over a time period of 4 hours. The initial results found that, generally speaking, music therapy may lower reported pain and anxiety scores. Furthermore, stronger results were identified in case subjects with higher initial reports of pain via a pain catastrophizing scale, implying that a higher baseline of pain results in more relief from music therapy. One shortcoming in the article is the lack of analysis with reported results and the biopsychosocial model of pain. Heavy emphasis is placed on the psychological and social components of pain in the Brigham and Women's article through the implementation of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale and Brief Pain Inventory scoring done during the RCT, but no focus on linked biological changes in the subjects through the music therapy intervention. The purpose of this study is to (i.) assess the effect of a video training about musical pain management followed by a 15-minute music listening intervention on self-reported pain scores in ED patients with neck and back pain. The investigators also aim to (ii.) evaluate patient satisfaction and emotional response following the intervention. Opioid medications are commonly used to reduce substantial pain, and music therapy has been found to reduce associated pain and anxiety in patients, then the use of music therapy could be an aid in medicine to reduce opioid intake. The investigators hypothesize that the usage of a training on musical pain management combined with a specified jazz musical intervention will produce a significantly lower measured pain score in comparison to a video on mindful pain management followed by the patient's choice of activities.

Conditions

Music Therapy for Pain and Sedation; Neck Pain Musculoskeletal; Back Pain

Keywords

Music therapy; Music pain management; Musical pain managament; Opioid epidemic; Therapeutic medicine; Emergency Medicine; Emergency Room; Waiting Room; Music intervention; Jazz music; back pain; neck pain; musculoskeletal; musculoskeletal pain; pain; pain management; music

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Pain score using Pain, Enjoyment of Life and General Activity Scale (PEG)

  Pain score will be obtained using PEG scale Title of first scale: Pain Pain will be rated on a scale of 0-10 , with 0 being no pain, and 10 being pain as bad as you can imagine (pain increases as scale increases) Title of second scale: Interference Interference will be rated on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being no interference, and 10 being completely interferes (interference increases as scale increases) Higher score is a worse outcome

  Day 1

• Pain Intensity

  Pain will be scored using pain intensity scale Title of scale: Frequency 0-3, with 0 being not at all and 3 being nearly every day Higher score is a worse outcome

  Day 1

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Satisfaction with Study

  1 hour and 30 minutes after baseline

Study Arms (2)

Mindful Music Training + Music Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will be given a video training on listening to music mindfully to reduce pain. Following this, patients will be given a 15-minute jazz music playlist to listen to.

Behavioral: Music intervention

Standard of Care Pain Management Training + Participant's Choice of Intervention

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants will be given a video demonstrating how to mindfully manage pain, following this will be a 15-minute period of the participant's choice of activity

Behavioral: Music intervention

Interventions

Music intervention BEHAVIORAL

Participant's will be taught how to mindfully listen to jazz to reduce pain

Mindful Music Training + Music Intervention; Standard of Care Pain Management Training + Participant's Choice of Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 75 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• \- Age \>= 18 years old and \<=75 years old
• Patient presents with neck or back pain

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, Irvine: lead
• National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of California, Irvine, Emergency Department

Orange, California, 92868, United States

Location

Related Publications (4)

• Pourmand A, Jasani G, Shay C, Mazer-Amirshahi M. The Evolving Landscape of Acute Pain Management in the Era of the Opioid Crisis. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2018 Aug 27;22(11):73. doi: 10.1007/s11916-018-0728-y.

  PMID: 30151792 BACKGROUND

• Young SD, Kim J, Hanley A. Mindful Jazz and Preferred Music Interventions Reduce Pain Among Patients With Chronic Pain and Anxiety: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. Cureus. 2025 Mar 12;17(3):e80485. doi: 10.7759/cureus.80485. eCollection 2025 Mar.

  PMID: 40225443 BACKGROUND

• Chanana L, Jegaraj MA, Kalyaniwala K, Yadav B, Abilash K. Clinical profile of non-traumatic acute abdominal pain presenting to an adult emergency department. J Family Med Prim Care. 2015 Jul-Sep;4(3):422-5. doi: 10.4103/2249-4863.161344.

  PMID: 26288785 BACKGROUND

• Chai PR, Schwartz E, Hasdianda MA, Azizoddin DR, Kikut A, Jambaulikar GD, Edwards RR, Boyer EW, Schreiber KL. A Brief Music App to Address Pain in the Emergency Department: Prospective Study. J Med Internet Res. 2020 May 20;22(5):e18537. doi: 10.2196/18537.

  PMID: 32432550 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Back Pain; Emergencies; Neck Pain; Musculoskeletal Pain; Pain; Agnosia

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neurologic Manifestations; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Disease Attributes; Pathologic Processes; Muscular Diseases; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Perceptual Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases

Study Officials

• Sean Young, PhD

  University of California, Irvine. Department of Emergency Medicine

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Ryan Rokerya, Expected BS Dec 2026

  University of California, Irvine. Department of Emergency Medicine

  STUDY CHAIR

• Tyler Mitchell, Expected BS Jun 2026

  University of California, Irvine. Department of Emergency Medicine

  STUDY CHAIR

• Dominic A Ugarte, M.D.

  University of California, Irvine. Department of Emergency Medicine

  STUDY CHAIR

Central Study Contacts

Sean Young, PhD

CONTACT

6502455490; syoung5@hs.uci.edu

Danielle Matonis, MD

CONTACT

dmatonis@hs.uci.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Masking Details: Patients are blinded to condition
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 18, 2025
• First Posted: February 6, 2026
• Study Start: February 15, 2026
• Primary Completion: April 30, 2026
• Study Completion: April 30, 2026
• Last Updated: February 6, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)