Music Therapy Preferences Among Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Qualitative Study

Evidence suggests that music therapy may be effective for patients with cancer. However, its efficacy can be improved by tailoring it to each patient’s needs, disease, and treatment conditions. Since few studies have investigated the music therapy preferences of patients with cancer, this qualitative study aimed to identify such preferences among patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. For this purpose, individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 adult patients with breast cancer who had received perioperative chemotherapy in Japan. The data were analyzed based on a grounded theory approach, revealing the following categories: (a) relationship to music, (b) pain from treatment, and (c) preferences for music therapy. Based on these results, we were able to determine the specific music therapy preferences of patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. In addition, we identify patient preferences for music therapy content, time, timing, and fees and discuss the process of meeting these preferences. Identifying these preferences is crucial to providing meaningful interventions to music therapy recipients.