Abstract
BACKGROUND: Music therapy has been shown to have an impact at the physiological and psychological levels in human beings. As affect-sensitive, autonomically regulated measures, such as heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) are gaining popularity in research, they are also being used to measure therapeutic success and to have a better understanding of the complex mode of action of music therapy. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review article is to summarize the existing literature on the influence of music therapy on HR and HRV and to derive implications for future research. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The systematic literature search was conducted on 1 February 2022 via PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library. The HR and all HRV parameters reported in the included studies, both non-parametric, time-related and frequency-related, were recorded and reported as outcome criteria. The assessment of the risk of bias was performed using the Risk of Bias Assessment 2.0 of the Cochrane Collaboration. RESULTS: From the 672 studies identified, 28 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Of these studies 25 assessed the HR and only 10 studies measured HRV. Overall, it is noticeable that music therapy has a sometimes significant effect on HR and HRV in the majority of studies; however, it is not possible to establish an overarching pattern regarding the direction of the effects. DISCUSSION: The present results should be interpreted with respect to the following limitations: the small number and heterogeneity of studies as well as a risk of publication bias. CONCLUSION: In order to make generalizable statements about the effects of music therapy on HR and HRV as well as being able to use this knowledge therapeutically, the implementation of further large-scale studies of high methodological quality and meta-analyses is necessary.