Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of community singing on mental health-related quality of life of older people: randomised controlled trial
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: As the population ages, older people account for a greater proportion of the health and social care budget. Whereas some research has been conducted on the use of music therapy for specific clinical populations, little rigorous research has been conducted looking at the value of community singing on the mental health-related quality of life of older people. AIMS: To evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of community group singing for a population of older people in England. METHOD: A pilot pragmatic individual randomised controlled trial comparing group singing with usual activities in those aged 60 years or more. RESULTS: A total of 258 participants were recruited across five centres in East Kent. At 6 months post-randomisation, significant differences were observed in terms of mental health-related quality of life measured using the SF12 (mean difference = 2.35; 95% CI = 0.06-4.76) in favour of group singing. In addition, the intervention was found to be marginally more cost-effective than usual activities. At 3 months, significant differences were observed for the mental health components of quality of life (mean difference = 4.77; 2.53-7.01), anxiety (mean difference = -1.78; -2.5 to -1.06) and depression (mean difference = -1.52; -2.13 to -0.92). CONCLUSIONS: Community group singing appears to have a significant effect on mental health-related quality of life, anxiety and depression, and it may be a useful intervention to maintain and enhance the mental health of older people.
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Previous studies have pointed out psychological benefits of choral singing to individuals suffering from mental health problems.
“Previous studies have pointed out the psychological benefits of choral singing to individuals suffering from mental health problems (e.g., Coulton et al., 2015).”
From Psychobiological Effects of Choral Singing on Affective State, Social Connectedness, and Stress: Influences of Singing Activity and Time Course (2018) · cites this paper as Coulton et al., 2015
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References 28 · Cited by 255
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Clark I, Harding K. Psychosocial outcomes of active singing as a therapeutic intervention: a review of the literature. Nordic J Mus Ther 2012; 21: 80-98.
- Gick M. Singing, health and wellbeing: a health psychologist's review. Psychomusicology 2011; 21: 176-207.
- Authors
- Coulton, S., Clift, S., Skingley, A., & Rodriguez, J.
- Affiliations
- Canterbury Christ Church University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Coulton, Simon
- Venue
- British Journal of Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
- Published
- 2015-09
- Volume
- 207
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 250-255
- ISSN
- 0007-1250 (ISSN-L)
- 1472-1465
- OpenAlex
- W2120278737
- Cited by
- 255
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 53 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 25.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The British Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Kent Academic Repository (University of Kent) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (PB-PG-0408-16038)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Music Therapy and Health
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Conservation › Art Therapy and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Music › Diverse Music Education Insights
- Keywords
- community singing, group singing, older adults, mental health-related quality of life, cost-effectiveness, anxiety, depression, music intervention, population aging
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Cost-Benefit Analysis, England, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Pilot Projects, Prospective Studies, Quality of Life, Quality-Adjusted Life Years, Singing
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