Mindful Jazz and Preferred Music Interventions Reduce Pain Among Patients With Chronic Pain and Anxiety: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.
Cureus March 1, 2025 Sean D Young, Josh Kim, Adam W. Hanley 1 citation
Mindfully listening to music, including improvisational jazz, can reduce chronic pain and anxiety more effectively than listening without mindfulness training. In a pilot study of 120 adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain, participants were randomly assigned to mindful listening or music education groups, each with either preferred music or jazz. Those in the mindful listening groups reported significantly greater reductions in pain intensity and anxiety. A clinically meaningful (20%) decrease in pain occurred more often in the mindful jazz (50%) and mindful music (41%) groups than in the jazz education (29%) and music education (26%) groups. The findings suggest that combining mindfulness with music listening enhances pain relief.