Chien-Ju Lin: Department of Family Medicine, Hsinchu MacKay Memorial Hospital, No. 690, Section 2, Guangfu Road, East District, Hsinchu City 30071, Taiwan. ORCID
Yu-Chen Chang: Department of Family Medicine, MacKay Memorial Hospital, No. 92, Section 2, Zhongshan North Road, Taipei City 10449, Taiwan.
Yu-Han Chang: Department of Family Medicine, MacKay Memorial Hospital, No. 92, Section 2, Zhongshan North Road, Taipei City 10449, Taiwan.
Yu-Hsuan Hsiao: Department of Family Medicine, MacKay Memorial Hospital, No. 92, Section 2, Zhongshan North Road, Taipei City 10449, Taiwan.
Hsin-Hui Lin: Department of Family Medicine, MacKay Memorial Hospital, No. 92, Section 2, Zhongshan North Road, Taipei City 10449, Taiwan. ORCID
Shu-Jung Liu: Department of Medical Library, MacKay Memorial Hospital, Tamsui Branch, No. 45, Minsheng Road, Tamsui District, New Taipei City 25160, Taiwan.
Chi-An Chao: Department of Family Medicine, Taitung MacKay Memorial Hospital, No. 1, Lane 303, Changsha Street, Taitung city, Taitung country 95054, Taiwan.
Hsuan Wang: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Hsinchu MacKay Memorial Hospital, No. 690, Section 2, Guangfu Road, East District, Hsinchu City 30071, Taiwan.
Tzu-Lin Yeh: Department of Family Medicine, Hsinchu MacKay Memorial Hospital, No. 690, Section 2, Guangfu Road, East District, Hsinchu City 30071, Taiwan. ORCID
Prenatal Anxiety is extremely common and may result in adverse effects on both the mother and the baby. Music interventions have been used to reduce Anxiety in various medical patients and in pregnant women during childbirth. This study aims to assess the clinical efficacy of music interventions in women during pregnancy rather than during labor. Seven databases were searched from inception to September 2019 without language restrictions. We included only randomized controlled trials that compared music intervention and control groups for Anxiety reduction in pregnant women. We used the revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool (RoB 2.0) for quality assessment. Finally, 11 studies with 1482 participants were included. The pooled meta-analysis results showed that music interventions significantly decreased Anxiety levels (standardized mean difference (SMD), -0.42; 95% confidence interval (CI), -0.83 to -0.02; = 91%). Moreover, subgroup analysis showed that listening to music at home had significant anxiolytic benefits (SMD, -0.28; 95% CI, -0.47 to -0.08; = 0%). However, meta-regression revealed a nonsignificant trend for increase in the Anxiety-reducing effects of music interventions with increasing maternal age. In conclusion, music interventions may be beneficial in reducing Anxiety and may be applied in pregnant women.
