Music programmes may help older adults' thinking, but not their attention.

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   625 older adults with no memory or thinking problems took part in nine trials. They were aged 60 or over, with average ages from about 67 to 85.

2. 02

   What they did

   Each programme was built around music, such as piano lessons, singing, drumming or listening to music. Most met once a week for about 18 weeks, which came to about 22 and a half hours. The other groups got no programme, usual care, a waiting list or a study about music culture.

3. 03

   What happened

   Music programmes helped memory, and problem-solving and switching tests, more than the other groups did. On attention tests, they did not help. Most trials had some concerns about how fairly they were run, and some trials were very small.

What the review found

1. No differenceFocus

   Music programmes did not improve attention more than the other groups did.

   Pooled analysis of 5 studies with 309 people · vs people who got usual care, nothing or a different activity · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited

2. HelpedOther outcomes

   Music programmes improved problem-solving and switching tests more than the other groups did.

   Pooled analysis of 5 studies with 238 people · vs people who got usual care, nothing or a different activity · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited

Source