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ABSTRACT Objective: Cognitive, neuropsychiatric and functional deficits are core symptoms of dementia. Non-pharmacological interventions, such as music therapy, when used in conjunction with pharmacological treatment, have the potential to alleviate these symptoms. The purpose of this preliminary study is to examine the active music therapy on cognition and neuropsychiatric symptoms in the elderly with mild and moderate dementia. Methods: The initial sample consisted of outpatients with dementia (N = 15) and their family members or caregivers (N = 15). Two dyads did not complete the assessments before intervention and were excluded from the analysis. Thirteen females (N = 13) comprised the final sampled and were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (N = 10), vascular dementia (N = 2) and mixed dementia (N = 1), at mild (N = 11) and moderate (N = 2) dementia stage. Participants were enrolled in an open-label trial of active music therapy group, set to take place once weekly for 60 minutes over a period of 12 weeks. Results: Participants experienced a slight improvement on cognition measured with Mini-Mental State Examination (p = 0.41), although without statistical significance and a statistically significant decrease in anxiety (p = 0.042) in post-intervention. There were no significant effects on quality of life and caregiver burden. Conclusions: Active music therapy is a promising intervention with good acceptance among participants. More studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm its effects and efficacy in cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia.

ABSTRACT Objective A large number of psychosocial interventions in dementia are based on music activities and music therapy interventions. We aim at assessing the efficacy of music therapy in the neuropsychiatric symptoms of people with dementia. Methods This systematic review is according to the methodology suggested by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. We searched for articles in PubMed, Web of Knowledge Cross Search, Cochrane Library, Scopus and Lilacs/Bireme databases published from 2005 to 2016. The search keywords included “early onset” and “late onset” combined with “dementia”, “Alzheimer”, “vascular dementia”, “mixed dementia”, “frontotemporal dementia”, “neuropsychiatric symptoms”, “behavioral disturbances”, “behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia” and “music therapy”. The studies were categorized according to its efficacy on the decline of neuropsychiatric symptoms and improvement of cognitive function, quality of life and well-being. Results We selected 12 out of 257 papers. Music therapy interventions were applied individually or in group setting, using active or receptive technique. In general, studies indicated the efficacy of music therapy on the decline of depression, agitation and anxiety. There were heterogeneity of interventions, methodological design and instruments of evaluation among the studies. Conclusions Although there are reports of the efficacy of music therapy on the decline of neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia, the area still needs randomized studies aimed at the solution of important methodological problems like the lack of standardized approaches.