Music Therapy and Heart Rate Variability in Chinese Patients with Depression

Aim: Depression and cardiovascular diseases are interrelated. Music therapy is often used as an add-on therapy for patients with depression, as well as in long-term cardiac rehabilitation. While research has extensively elucidated heart rate variability (HRV) in psychiatric and cardiovascular conditions, studies focusing on the depression–HRV–music therapy triad are still lacking, hence the present short communication. Subjects and Methods: From January 2022 to January 2023, the Shanghai 10th People’s Hospital, affiliated with Tongji University, conducted an outpatient randomized controlled trial (G1: music therapy, n = 29; G2: music therapy combined with medication, n = 29) including patients aged 14 to 70 diagnosed with depression according to the CCMD-3 diagnostic manual, with a treatment duration of 8 weeks. Affective and cardiological states were assessed using the SCL-90 and 5-min HRV before and after the entire intervention, which applied multimodal music therapy techniques previously developed at the 10th People’s Hospital. Results: Both groups showed marked improvement after the entire treatment. Standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals (SDNN) increased significantly in both G1 and G2 (p < 0.05); root mean square of successive RR interval differences (RMSSD) increased in G1 considerably, in G2 significantly (p < 0.05); SD1 and SD2 (Poincaré plot) increased significantly (p < 0.05) in both G1 and G2. SCL- 90 (depression) indicated significant improvement: G1 2.99 ± 0.99/2.40 ± 1.26 (p < 0.05) and G2 3.16 ± 0.94/2.60 ± 1.33 (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Both music therapy alone and combined with medication improves considerably HRV-parameters and psychopathological states in patients with depression. Combined therapy did not yield better results, which calls for clarification. As multimodal music therapy seems to be more efficient than, e.g., only listening to music, differentiation of music therapeutic styles is necessary.