Background Given the anxiety patients experience during angiography, evidence supporting the efficacy of music therapy during these angiographic procedures is potentially of clinical value.

Objective To analyze the existing literature forthe use of music therapy during cerebral, coronary, and peripheral angiography to determine whether it improves patient anxiety levels, heart rate, and blood pressure during the procedure.

Methods PubMed, Embase, and Scopus were searched to identify studies of interest. Inclusion criteria included studies reporting using music therapy in either cerebral, coronary, or peripheral angiography. Studies focused on a pediatric population; animal studies and case reports were excluded. Participant demographics, interventions, and outcomes were collected by two study authors. Bias and study quality of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. Separate meta-analyses of the RCTs were performed to compare State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), heart rate (HR), and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP) in the music intervention group versus control group. Heterogeneity was determined by calculating I² values, and a random-effects model was used when heterogeneity exceeded 50%.

Results The preprocedure to postprocedure improvement in STAI was significantly greater in the experimental group than the control group (p=0.004), while the decrease in HR, SBP, and DBP was not significant.

Conclusions Recorded music and/or music therapy in angiography significantly decreases patients’ anxiety levels, while it has little to no effect on HR and BP. This meta-analysis is limited by the relatively few RCTs published on this subject.

PROSPERO registration number CRD42018099103