Exploring the potential for music to facilitate exercise adherence in pulmonary rehabilitation: a survey study

<bold>Background:</bold> Music enhances exercise performance but its potential has not been well explored in pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). Objectives were to explore (1) PR service users’ music preferences, (2) music accessibility and (3) experiences/expectations of exercising to music. <bold>Methods:</bold> Exploratory survey among PR attendees. Questions explored preferred music genre, technology ownership and exercising with music. Data were analysed descriptively. <bold>Results:</bold> 64 participants (50% male, 60% aged ≥70yr) were surveyed. The most popular music genres were Country (42%), Pop (36%) and Classical (33%) (Fig 1a). Most respondents owned a smartphone (86%), with 41% using headphones to listen to music. 45 respondents (70%) mostly listen to music from the radio. Almost half (47%) had never exercised to music. Almost a quarter (23%) had no concerns wearing headphones while walking outside, with remaining respondents reporting it might: reduce awareness of surroundings (63%), hinder communication (30%) or distract them from their breathing (19%) (Fig 1b). The main reported potential benefit of listening to music during exercise was boosting mood (44%) (Fig 1c). <bold>Conclusion:</bold> There is potential to utilise music as a tool to help PR attendees to adhere to exercise, but diverse music preferences and identified challenges must be addressed for successful implementation. <fig><object-id>erj;64/suppl_68/PA3183/F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><graphic></graphic></fig>