Effect of Musical Therapy Langgam Jawa on Pre-chemotherapy Anxiety of Cancer Patients

BACKGROUND: Anxiety occurs in cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy for the 1st time. Excessive anxiety which occurred in the pre-chemotherapy phase can contribute to the failure of chemotherapy programs. One of attempts to reduce anxiety is providing musical therapy Langgam Jawa. AIM: The purpose of the research is to identify the effect of musical therapy Langgam Jawa to pre-chemotherapy anxiety score. METHODS: The research used quasi-experimental design which involved pre-posttest with control group. The research was conducted at a hospital in Central Java. The population was cancer patients who undergoing chemotherapy for the 1st time and experienced pre-chemotherapy anxiety. Samples were selected with purposive sampling technique that met inclusion criteria. Subjects were 42 respondents consisting of 21 in each group obtained by simple random sampling technique. Health education and deep breathing exercise were provided to the control group, while the treatment group obtained health education, deep breathing exercise, and musical therapy Langgam Jawa. The measurement of pre-chemotherapy anxiety in the cancer patients was using State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. An independent t-test performed the analysis. RESULTS: The results showed that pre-chemotherapy anxiety score decreases significantly in those two groups (p-value: 0.001; α: 0.05). The treatment group showed a higher decrease of pre-chemotherapy anxiety than the control group. CONCLUSION: The finding highlights musical therapy Langgam Jawa is effective to reduce pre-chemotherapy anxiety of cancer patients. It is recommended to apply musical therapy Langgam Jawa for cancer patients who’re undergoing chemotherapy.