IELTS Listening · Cam 21

Test 4 Part 4

Today's lecture is about studies that look at how music therapy can be used to help patients who undergo surgery.

Level: C1 · 83 sentences

Transcript

  1. Today's lecture is about studies that look at how
  2. music therapy can be used to help patients who undergo surgery.
  3. Now, most people undergo a surgical procedure at some
  4. point in their lives and more than 51 million
  5. operations are performed annually in the USA.
  6. but there's no escaping the fact that most patients
  7. feel uncomfortable following surgery.
  8. They may have difficulty mobilizing,
  9. and even sitting up in bed can feel too much.
  10. They may also be negatively affected by having their
  11. routine disturbed, you know,
  12. like if they can't do the things they normally do
  13. or have to devote a lot of time to appointments,
  14. such as physiotherapy, to aid their recovery.
  15. Currently, the main strategy for improving recovery is medication to control pain,
  16. and this can be administered to patients in the short, medium,
  17. or longer term, depending on the extent of their surgery.
  18. But music is still not an everyday part of the post-surgical phase,
  19. despite a wealth of relevant studies supporting its potential in recovery.
  20. Earlier this year,
  21. a research team set out to assess all the available evidence so
  22. that they could highlight the potential for music in surgical recovery.
  23. They identified nearly 100 trials involving a total of 7,000 patients
  24. who were played recorded music as part of their post-operative care.
  25. The researchers then looked at what impact the music
  26. had on the patients.
  27. They discovered that patients who had been played music
  28. reported feeling happier and more satisfied in the post-operative phase,
  29. and the length of their stay was shorter than for patients
  30. who had not listened to any music.
  31. The researchers also explored the patient's choice of music,
  32. and their findings showed that a wide variety
  33. of music styles was evident.
  34. However, a common factor was that the chosen music
  35. had a calming quality.
  36. Some of the patients listened to music with headphones,
  37. but it was quiet enough not to prevent them
  38. from being able to communicate with nurses and other staff.
  39. More often, though, the mode of delivery was by what are known
  40. as music pillows.
  41. These broadcast sound that is only audible to the person
  42. lying on them.
  43. The research involved testing music before,
  44. during, or after operations, or a combination.
  45. Some patients listened to the music just once a day,
  46. while others had several episodes a day.
  47. When asked to report their experience of listening to music,
  48. surgical patients said that either they had no feelings
  49. of anxiety at any point, or those feelings were only slight.
  50. Patients who hadn't listened to music, on the other hand,
  51. reported higher levels of dissatisfaction.
  52. This feedback from all of the patients was then
  53. cross-checked against their medical notes, and in every case,
  54. those who were given music to listen to didn't need
  55. as much medication to ease their pain.
  56. as those patients who weren't played music.
  57. The type of music, patient choice and timing, before,
  58. during or after the surgery, didn't make much difference.
  59. And it even worked when patients were played music under general anesthetic,
  60. although the positive effects were greater when patients were awake.
  61. All the evidence suggests that music has a positive
  62. effect on post-operative patients,
  63. but it's not entirely clear how or why this is the case.
  64. A lot of people listen to music in daily life
  65. as a way to relax and forget their problems,
  66. but the researchers came to the conclusion
  67. that it worked on patients by distraction.
  68. I suppose it was something familiar and gave them
  69. something they could control.
  70. The researchers say there is now sufficient research to demonstrate
  71. that music should be available to all patients undergoing operations.
  72. They say patients should be able to choose what
  73. they'd like to listen to.
  74. and, if they prefer, recordings taken from nature can be just
  75. as good as music.
  76. Surgical teams may prefer patients to listen to music
  77. before the procedure or as soon as they arrive
  78. back onto the ward.
  79. Clearly, there's more to learn about this area,
  80. and the team now plan to focus their next
  81. research on the most appropriate volume to play the music at,
  82. and I look forward to reading the results of their study.
  83. It will be interesting to see,