The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of music therpy on anxiety and depression in patients undergoing hemodialysis.

The study was designed using a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The subjects consisted of 36 patients (Experimental group: 18, Control group: 18) who received hemodialysis in three hospitals located in Seoul. The measures were a Music Preference Questionnaire (MPQ), anxiety measurement, and depression measurement. Data was collected from December 26, 2004 to April 2, 2005 through questionnaires. The collected data was analyzed by the SPSS 10.0 program.

The first hypothesis that patients undergoing hemodialysis who received music therapy would have less anxiety than patients undergoing hemodialysis who did not receive music therapy was supported (F=8.05, p=.008). The second hypothesis that patient undergoing hemodialysis who received music therapy would have less depression than patients undergoing hemodialysis who did not receive music therapy was supported(F=11.86, p=.002).

The results of this study suggest that music therapy may be applied as a method of nursing intervention contributing to the improvement of quality life by reducing their anxiety and depression of patients undergoing hemodialysis.