Critical Analysis of Music Therapy for Depression: A Case Study

Running head: CASE STUDY
CASE STUDY
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note

CASE STUDY
1
Table of Contents
Summary of the result: 2
Critical analysis: 3
The adequacy of sample size: 5
Result and outcome of the study: 6
Possible application in the scenario: 7
References: 8

CASE STUDY
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Summary of the result:
This paper aims to provide an in-depth critical analysis of a randomized control trial and
its application in the case study which involve a patient with anxiety and depression by a general
practitioner.
The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of combination of music therapy and the
standard with regards to only standard care for treating depression in the working people. The
music therapy has been one of the most effective treatments in treating depression (Patterson et
al., 2016). However, sufficient methodology failed to provide the application of it as a clinical
approach (Aalbers et al., 2017). This study conducted a randomized control trial where 79
participants with an ICD-10 diagnosis of the depression were recruited and they received
standard care along with music therapy for 3months (Erkkilä et al., 2011). The clinical measure
of the study would be anxiety, quality of life, general functioning and alexithymia. The result of
the study highlighted that the response rate of the participants who received music therapy is
significantly higher compared to the participants who received only standard care (Erkkilä et al.,
2011). The participants who received music therapy exhibit greater enhancement in the
depression and anxiety compared to the participants who have received only standard care.
In this case, population would be 18-50 years population with depression and anxiety
according ICD diagnosis. Intervention would be combination of Standard care and music
therapy. Comparison would be done with standard care. The outcome would be Outcome
reduction of symptoms of the anxiety and depression.

CASE STUDY
3
Critical analysis:
For conducting a critical appraisal, the CASP tool was used in this case.
A trail on focus issues:
The trial focused on the issue such as depression. It is common mental illness which affects
the life of the individuals suffering from it. The music therapy has been one of the most effective
treatments in treating depression (Windle et al., 2019)
Randomization of the participants:
Watson (2015), highlighted that randomization of the study minimizes the differences
amongst the group by distributing the participants equally in the characteristics according to the
aim of the study. In this study, Erkkilä et al. (2011) randomized participants into 10:7 ratio of
the standard care to the therapy, highlighting selection bias in the study which further affected
the result of the study. The music intervention was provided to 46 participants whereas standard
care was provided to 33 participants, total 79 participants.
The counting of the participants:
The research provided a graphical presentation of this data in figure 1 in the form of a flow chart.
The intervention group had 46 participants and control group had 33 participants. The base line
characteristics include diagnosis with mild to moderate depressive episode, have musical
background.
Blinding of the participants, health care professionals, and study investigators:
Claydon (2015), highlighted that blinding in the experimental research especially in
randomized control refers to the practice where participants were unaware of the certain
information which can influence them and impact the accuracy of the study. The blinding can