Effects of Live Music on Satisfaction of Students Waiting for Treatment in a University Health Clinic

In contemporary American society, it is common to hear background music in a wide variety of settings. Today, music is frequently heard in elevators, stores, restaurants, and while waiting to be connected with customer service specialists on the phone. Advances in technology have enabled listening to recorded music to become a common occurrence.Data, derived from systematic inquiry, supporting the beneficial effects of background music in these various settings would likely increase the frequency of its use. Thus, researchers have conducted investigations in a number of venues to determine if there are effects. As it is common to experience heightened anxiety while in the waiting room of a hospital or clinic (Dexter & Epstein, 2001 ), this is a fertile setting for investigation. One such study compared recorded music, aromatherapy, and the combination of music and aromatherapy on the anxiety of adults who were in a pediatric emergency waiting area (Holm & Fitzmaurice, 2008). There was a significant decrease in state anxiety on the days when music was played, regardless of the aromatherapy. Furthermore, the authors recommended that music might be a practical way to decrease anxiety in emergency department waiting areas. Authors from a similar article suggested that hospitals should create a department to control the amount of noise in hospital settings (Cabrera & Lee, 2000). Despite not having their own empirical evidence, the authors recommended that hospitals should have a center for music to reduce noise pollution for in- and out-patients, staff, and physicians.Other researchers found that children entering a cast room where soft music was playing had lower heart rate increases than a control condition without music (Liu et al., 2007). In addition to the reduced anxiety, the authors noted this was a low cost procedure and there were no potential risks or side effects. Researchers have found that recorded music in surgical waiting rooms can reduce stress and anxiety while increasing relaxation (Routhieaux & Tansik, 1997). In a follow-up study, Tansik and Routhieaux (1999) found that although recorded music in the surgical waiting rooms did not yield higher patient perceptions or evaluations of hospital service quality, it did elevate mood states.However, the aforementioned studies utilized recorded music. There are data from meta-analyses indicating live music tends to be more clinically effective than recorded music in medical music therapy settings (Standley, 2000; Standley & Whipple, 2003). As a result of these data, Jarred (2003) studied the effects of live music on pre-surgical adults in a waiting room of a hospital. The researcher divided participants into three groups: A "direct" music group that was able to choose their music, an "indirect" music group that was not able to choose their music, and a no music control group. Although there was no significant difference in stress, anxiety, or worry levels across the music and no music conditions, participants in both music conditions had higher relaxation (p Although music is popular and widely used in a number of clinical and nonclinical settings, little literature supports background music in clinical settings. Additionally, only one study utilized live music as an independent variable and no studies were found that evaluated the effects of music in a general health clinic of a large university. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of live music in the waiting room of a university clinic utilizing a two-group posttest-only design.MethodResearch ParticipantsResearch participants were patients in the waiting room of a university health clinic at a large comprehensive university in the Midwest. …