Music for stress and anxiety reduction in coronary heart disease patients.

Individuals with coronary heart disease (CHD) often suffer from severe distress due to diagnosis, hospitalization, surgical procedures, uncertainty of outcome, fear of dying, doubts about progress in recovery, helplessness and loss of control. Such adverse effects put the cardiac patient at greater risk for complications, including sudden cardiac death. It is therefore of crucial importance that the care of people with CHD focuses on psychological as well as physiological needs.Music interventions have been used to reduce anxiety and distress and improve physiological functioning in medical patients; however its efficacy for people with CHD needs to be evaluated.