P3.119: Characterizing the Utilization of Music Therapy Services Among Patients Receiving Care from a Single Institution Pediatric Palliative Care Team

Background: Music therapy (MT) is the evidence-based use of music interventions to achieve therapeutic goals. MT offers individualized, meaningful impact on well-being for patients with serious illness and their families, including children receiving palliative care (PC). Recent research has established the role of MT in alleviating physical, psychological, social, and spiritual distress through self-expression, choice, and interpersonal connections. Despite these benefits, quantitative studies examining MT, especially for children hospitalized with serious illness, are limited. We aim to describe MT involvement in children receiving PC to explore the benefits and areas of growth for MT within the interdisciplinary palliative care model.

Methods: Medical charts were retrospectively reviewed for patients (age 0-25 years) who were seen by the inpatient pediatric PC consult service and had a private room at a large, quaternary children’s hospital from January-December 2024. Institutional Review Board approval was obtained. Data collected included demographics, clinical information, and MT-specific variables such as referral indications, session goals, interventions, and therapeutic response. Descriptive analysis and univariate chi-square tests were performed using Microsoft Excel.

Results: Data was reviewed for 165 unique patients across 209 hospitalizations. The cohort was predominantly male (71.9%), White (79.4%), non-Hispanic (53.3%), and English-speaking (74.5%). A total of 102 MT sessions were completed for 38 patients (23% of cohort) across 49 hospitalizations. MT encounters were completed in both floor and ICU settings and in individual and group sessions. MT visits had a median duration of 50 minutes (interquartile range: 35-60 minutes). Most common indications for MT were to improve quality of life/coping (38.6%) and caregiver/family support (28.6%). Most common interventions utilized were physical rehabilitation (25.5%), music expression (24.8%), and legacy creation/end of life support (11.7%). Symptom improvement, when assessed, was noted by music therapists in 65/67 (97%) sessions. On Chi-square analysis comparing patients who did and did not receive MT, an association by age was found, with younger ( < 5 years) and older patients (15-25 years) being less likely than expected to receive MT (Χ2=6.74, df=2, p=0.03). Similarly, there was an association by ethnicity, with Hispanic patients receiving MT less frequently than expected (Χ2=8.22, df=1, p< 0.01). No other significant associations between demographics or clinical variables and MT administration were revealed.

Conclusion: MT can be a valuable resource for many children receiving PC. In this cohort, MT was associated with symptom improvement in most patients and addressed diverse therapeutic goals. Common interventions, including expressive techniques and legacy-building, highlight the role of MT in enhancing quality of life and familial support while also demonstrating shared principles between MT and PC. However, ethnic and age disparities for MT were identified; strategies to address these differences should be explored. Study limitations include incomplete or biased documentation within the retrospective chart review design and potential lack of generalizability.