The Effect of Music Therapy for Patients With Huntington’s Disease: A Systematic Literature Review

Huntington’s disease is a progressive, neurodegenerative, and autosomal dominant disease characterized by motorand psychiatric disturbances, and cognitive decline. Since there is no cure, all treatment is aimed at improving quality of life. One form of non-drug therapy which is barely recognized, is music therapy. The literature on its use and effect in patients with Huntington’s disease is limited. We therefore performed a detailed literature survey in order to delineate the different types of music therapy interventions and their aims. Music therapy studies were included when targeting: (1) motor disturbances; (2) cognitive disturbances; (3) psychiatric disturbances; and (4) emotional/social disturbances. A total of eight studies that met these criteria were analyzed. We found that music therapy interventions vary throughout the different stages of the disease and are not yet applied optimally. Not the stage of the disease but the individual treatment goals seem to be more determinative for the music therapy indications. In conclusion, precise aims and methods in relation to the stage of the disease are not well determined. There is a need for systematic study of this treatment option.