Music Therapy in Various Physical and Mental Conditions and Its Effects on Cancer Patients Receiving Radiotherapy

Music therapy is widely used as a non-pharmacological intervention in a variety of different clinical and therapeutic settings. Several studies have been conducted on the possible effect of music on immediate symptoms, especially anxiety, stress and pain, resulting from disease states and/or invasive medical procedures. The aim of this review is to discuss the use of music therapy in various physical and mental disorders and to examine its effects on adult cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy. The results obtained show that music therapy applications have the potential to be used alone or in combination with standard pharmacological treatment to reduce perceived pain, anxiety and fatigue levels in cancer patients receiving radiotherapy during their treatment and may have positive effects on improving the experience of cancer patients receiving radiotherapy during the treatment process. It is stated that more well-designed research is needed to investigate the effects of music therapy, especially in the field of radiation oncology.