Teaching pursed-lip breathing through music: MELodica Orchestra for DYspnea (MELODY) trial rationale and protocol
Abstract
Background: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) commonly experience dyspnea, which may limit activities of daily living. Pursed-lip breathing improves dyspnea for COPD patients; however, access to pursed-lip breathing training is limited. Methods: The proposed MELodica Orchestra for DYspnea (MELODY) study will be a single-site pilot study to assess the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of a music-based approach to teach pursed-lip breathing. Patients with COPD and moderate-severe dyspnea are randomized to intervention, education-control, or usual care control groups. Intervention patients meet twice weekly for eight weeks for melodica instruction, group music-making, and COPD education. Safety, feasibility, and efficacy is assessed qualitatively and quantitatively. Results: This manuscript describes the rationale and methods of the MELODY pilot project. Conclusions: If pilot data demonstrate efficacy, then a multi-site randomized control trial will be conducted to evaluate program effectiveness and implementation.
Publication Title
Arts and Health
Recommended Citation
McGrath, M., Smith, J., Rattray, N., Lillie, A., Crow, S., Myers, L., Myers, J., Perkins, A., Wasmuth, S., Burns, D., Cheatham, A., Patel, H., & Bravata, D. (2022). Teaching pursed-lip breathing through music: MELodica Orchestra for DYspnea (MELODY) trial rationale and protocol. Arts and Health, 14 (1), 49-65. https://doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2020.1827277
