Measuring the Effects of Music-Listening On Distress After Intensive Care (MELODIC): A Single Case Experimental Design Study.
The primary goal of this single-case experimental design study is to investigate the effectiveness of personalised music listening on daily levels of distress after discharge from a critical care ward. The study will also aim to understand the effect of personalised music listening on symptoms of post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression and health-related quality of life post-discharge. The main questions the study aims to answer are included below. After discharge from critical care, does personalised music-listening: * Reduce psychological distress? * Reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression? * Improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL)? The study will have 3 phases, allowing for participant data gathered during the baseline phase (treatment as usual) to be compared to data gathered during intervention (music-listening) and follow-up phases. Participants will: * rate their distress on a visual analogue scale each day. * listen to a minimum of 30 minutes of self-selected music each day during the intervention phase. * complete measures of mood, anxiety, post-traumatic stress and health-related quality of life at baseline, intervention and follow-up phases.
Inclusion Criteria: * 18 years or older. * Experienced an admission to an ICU/HDU of any length and not yet participated in InS:PIRE. * Access to an internet-enabled device and internet connection whilst at home. * Experiencing some distress relating to their ICU/HDU admission - a cut-off score of 4 on the VAS 'Distress Thermometer' has been used previously (Hofhuis et al., 2025).
Exclusion Criteria: * Are unable to give informed consent e.g. have a significant cognitive impairment due to illness, injury or neurological condition, or are currently experiencing delirium or acute psychotic illness. * Have significant communication difficulties or limited English and cannot access validated outcome measures or translation services in the given language. * Are experiencing a mental health crisis or have recently attempted suicide, where ongoing significant risk of harm to themselves or others remains. * Have an uncorrected hearing impairment that would prevent them from hearing their music playlist. * Are participating in another study aimed at reducing distress.
[{"measure":"Change in daily distress scores measured on the visual analogue scale \u0027Distress Thermometer\u0027","timeFrame":"Daily from enrolment to the end of the follow-up phase (5-6 weeks depending on baseline allocation)."}]