NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Getting an earful of music can motivate patients with severe lung disease to go the extra mile--make that four extra miles--while exercising to improve their health, according to a new report.

"Music could help distract people with serious lung disease from certain negative physical symptoms," lead author Dr. Gerene S. Bauldoff of the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing in Pennsylvania said in a prepared statement.

In the current study, Bauldoff and colleagues evaluated 24 people with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of the study, published in a recent issue of the journal Chest, was to see if listening to music while exercising had any positive effect on patients' exercise stamina.

COPD includes the lung disease emphysema and chronic bronchitis, and is marked by progressively worsening shortness of breath and coughing. The disease is currently the fourth leading cause of death in the world, after heart disease, cancer and stroke.

Previous research has found that regular exercise helps patients with COPD, the authors note. However, because exercising with COPD requires considerable effort, researchers are constantly looking for new ways to motivate patients and improve exercise levels.

According to the report, half of the patients were required to walk at their own pace for 20 to 45 minutes while they listened to music through headphones. The other group received the same instructions but did not listen to music.

The investigators monitored breathing ability during daily living and a 6-minute walk, as well as symptoms of depression, anxiety and quality of life.

After 8 weeks of therapy, there was a significant decrease in perceived breathing difficulties and an increase in the amount of distance covered during a 6-minute walking test among those who listened to music compared with those who heard no music.

Music listeners walked an average of 19.1 miles over the course of the study period, while those who didn't listen to music walked an average of 15.4 miles--or 24% less.

"The positive effects of increased exercise spilled over into other areas of the participants' lives--they were better able to handle routine daily activities and, in turn, retain a good degree of independence," said Bauldoff.

"A person with lung disease can develop symptoms so severe that she abandons daily routine activities...(and) becomes disabled," added Bauldoff. "But if that can be reversed first with a rehabilitation program, and followed up with an individual exercise program that includes music, she could very well retain her independence."

SOURCE: Chest 2002;122:948-954.

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