A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Music Interventions to Improve Sleep in Adults with Mental Health Problems

Background: Music listening has been used as a sleep intervention among different populations. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to explore whether music is an effective sleep aid in adults with mental health problems.

Methods: We searched for studies investigating music interventions for sleep in adults with mental health problems. The primary outcome was subjective sleep quality; secondary outcomes were objective sleep outcomes, quality of life, and other mental health symptoms. Risk of bias assessment (RoB1) and random-effect model were used for the systematic review and meta-analyses.

Results: The initial screening ( = 1492) resulted in 15 studies in the systematic review. Further qualified studies led to the meta-analysis of sleep quality ( = 7), depression ( = 5), and anxiety ( = 5). We found that the music listening intervention showed a potential effect on subjective sleep quality improvement compared to treatment-as-usual or no-intervention groups. When excluding an outlier study with an extreme effect, the meta-analysis showed a moderate effect on sleep quality (Hedges'  = -0.66, 95% CI [-1.19, -0.13],  = -3.21,  = 0.0236). The highest risk of bias was the blinding of participants and researchers due to the nature of the music intervention.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that music interventions could have the potential to improve sleep quality among individuals with mental health problems, even though more high-quality studies are needed to establish the effect fully.