Recruiting

Music Therapy

Sponsor:

Emory University

Code:

NCT07562451

Conditions

Sickle Cell Disease

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 8 - 18

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Music Therapy

Standard of Care

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate whether a 4-week music therapy (MT) intervention can reduce chronic pain and improve psychosocial outcomes in youth with sickle cell disease (SCD).

The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Does MT reduce pain intensity, frequency of pain episodes, and improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL)?
  • Does MT alter immune cell composition and gene expression in inflammatory pathways, as measured by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq)?

Researchers will compare participants randomized to music therapy versus a control condition to see if MT produces superior improvements in pain and psychosocial outcomes, and distinct molecular changes.

Conditions

Sickle Cell Disease

Study ID

NCT07562451

Start date

Sep 1, 2026

Status verified date

Aug, 2026

Completion date

Apr 1, 2028

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Apr 1, 2028

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 8 - 18

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosed with SCD
  • English fluency (for survey completion)
  • Have access to a personal electronic device (e.g., phone, tablet) with access to the internet
  • Meet the criteria for chronic pain defined by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). IASP defines chronic pain as pain that is both:

1. Persistent or recurrent for ≥ 3 months
2. is associated with significant emotional distress or functional disability.30

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Major hearing deficiency or medical condition in which listening to music may be contraindicated (e.g., reflex epilepsy).

Study Design

Enrollment

25 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Supportive Care

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Music Therapy group

The MT group will engage in 20-minute daily virtual music therapy sessions for 4 weeks, using the freely available Music Care© app (manufactured by MUSIC CARE) to independently participate in electronic music therapy following the U sequence. This app is voluntarily downloaded onto a participant's personal device, and participants will be instructed to complete daily MT sessions under optimal conditions (i.e., lying down, eyes closed, low lighting).

sham comparator: Control group

The control group will be asked to engage with educational material for 20 minutes daily. There will be no restrictions for research subjects in regards to listening to music under other conditions (e.g., phone, radio, concert, etc)

Interventions

Music Therapy

The MT group will engage in 20-minute daily virtual music therapy sessions for 4 weeks, using the freely available Music Care© app (manufactured by MUSIC CARE) to independently participate in electronic music therapy following the U sequence. This app is voluntarily downloaded onto a participants personal device and participants will be instructed to complete daily MT sessions under optimal conditions (i.e., lying down, eyes closed, low lighting).

Standard of Care

Routinely available educational material on sickle cell disease management and a healthy lifestyle.

Primary outcome measure

  • Change in Pain characteristics [ Time Frame: Baseline, Week 5 ]
  • Change in Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) [ Time Frame: Baseline, Week 5 ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Manoj Bhasin, PhD

404-712-9849manoj.bhasin@emory.edu

Locations

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

Recruiting

Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30324

Contacts

Soumitri Sil, PhD

404-727-2712soumitri.sil@emory.edu

More Information

Sponsor

Emory University

Last update posted

Aug 31, 2026

Last verified

Aug, 2026

Keywords

  • Music therapy
  • Pain control
  • Sickle cell disease

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Emory University on 2026-08-31.