Use of music to enhance sleep and psychological outcomes in critically ill patients: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION: Music listening is used as a non-pharmacological intervention in various populations with positive results; however, evidence for its effect on sleep and psychological outcomes in critically ill patients remains unclear. It is essential to understand the impact of music listening for critically ill patients to optimise care and minimise the risk for harm. We will assess whether music listening improves sleep and psychological outcomes in critically ill patients. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will systematically search scientific databases for relevant studies, including PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, China Biological Medicine Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Library, Wan fang databases, VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals and the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. Databases will be searched for articles published from inception to 10 June 2020. Music therapy journals and reference lists in some articles will be hand-searched. Grey literature will also be searched. We will include randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials that used music listening to improve sleep and psychological outcomes in critically ill patients. The primary outcomes will be sleep-related outcomes, and secondary outcomes will be anxiety and depression scores and physiological outcomes. Two reviewers will independently verify study eligibility and methodological quality; disagreements will be resolved by a third reviewer or through discussion. The risk of bias will be independently determined using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials checklist will be used to examine the quality of included papers. Data will be extracted from eligible studies by two researchers. RevMan V.5.3 will be used for meta-analysis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This work will review existing trial data and will not introduce new patient data or interventions; therefore, ethics committee approval is not required. We will disseminate this protocol in a related peer-reviewed journal. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42019147202.