Delirium in Neurodegenerative Disease Patients: A Music Therapy Intervention for Hospital Care

NCT ID: NCT07137949

Last Updated: 2025-12-31

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

30 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2026-02-28

Study Completion Date

2026-12-31

Brief Summary

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In this pilot study a new kind of music therapy will be created and tested to help prevent confusion, called delirium, that can happen in the hospital. This can affect people with brain diseases like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

Each of the anticipated 30 participants will have up to five music therapy sessions. The sessions will be made just for them and may include live music, playing instruments, or listening to recorded music. Surveys will be used to learn how easy the therapy is to do in the hospital and what people think about how helpful the sessions may be for future patients.

Detailed Description

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Conditions

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Delirium

Keywords

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Music therapy Hospital acquired delirium Neurodegenerative disease patients

Study Design

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Allocation Method

NA

Intervention Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Music therapy

Participants will undergo one-on-one music therapy (MT) sessions of approximately 30 minutes duration conducted by a board-certified music therapist. Sessions will be customized to address patient needs but will consistently adhere to the four principal MT methods of re-creation, composition, improvisation, and therapeutic listening experiences.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Music therapy

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Live music therapy (MT) sessions will occur 3 times/week, up to 5 sessions. Sessions will be responsive to patient preferences, culture, and identity using information gained from medical record review, intake assessment, and in the moment therapeutic assessments.

Interventions

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Music therapy

Live music therapy (MT) sessions will occur 3 times/week, up to 5 sessions. Sessions will be responsive to patient preferences, culture, and identity using information gained from medical record review, intake assessment, and in the moment therapeutic assessments.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Admitted as inpatient to Boston Medical Center.
* Cognitive impairment or neurodegenerative diseases as defined by either:

* Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease, Dementia with Lewy Bodies (ICD-10 G20 and G31.83 respectively), Alzheimer's Disease-related dementias (ICD-10 6D80), vascular dementia (F01), or other cognitive impairment (R41) on active problem list or past medical history
* "Cognitive impairment" on active problem list or past medical history
* Documentation elsewhere in the electronic medical record (e.g. notes) of any of these conditions
* Participants with cognitive impairment will be included. If unable to consent, legally authorized representative (LAR) based on HRP-013-SOP-LARs, Children, and Guardians will be contacted to consent.
* Spanish speaking participants will be included. Screening and informed consent procedures will be conducted using a certified medical interpreter. All intervention sessions and study team interactions will be conducted using these interpreter services.
* Patients admitted to an intensive care unit will be included as long as they are not receiving continuous intravenous sedative medications. Potential participants in the intensive care unit setting will be discussed with a PI/co-I to ensure participation is appropriate on a case-by-case basis. The PI/Co-I will confirm with the treating physician that there are no reasons as to why the potential participant should not be enrolled in the study.

Exclusion Criteria

* Admitted to observation status (as these patients would not be expected to remain inpatient long enough to undergo the MT intervention)
* Patients who will be discharged within 24 hours of eligibility based on discussion with primary admitting team
* Self-reported history of musicogenic seizures
* Hearing loss: unable to hear a recorded sound \<70 decibels (dB)
* Dislike of music: Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire score of \<40
* Patients who are currently prisoners
* Patients in the intensive care unit receiving continuous intravenous sedative medication
* Pregnant women
Minimum Eligible Age

60 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Boston Medical Center

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Kara M Smith, MD MSCI FAAN

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Boston Medical Center, Neurology

Locations

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Boston Medical Center

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

Central Contacts

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Kara M Smith, MD MSCI FAAN

Role: CONTACT

Phone: 617-638-5351

Email: [email protected]

Amber Payne, MS

Role: CONTACT

Email: [email protected]

Facility Contacts

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Kara M Smith, MD MSCI FAAN

Role: primary

Other Identifiers

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H-46190

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id