PhD defence E.S. (Emy) van der Valk Bouman

Below is a brief summary of the dissertation:

Personalized music has the most significant effect on pain relief. While previous studies have shown that music can positively influence pain, anxiety, stress, sleep, and delirium in hospitalized patients, it was unclear which type of music worked best for which patient and context. Many of these studies lacked diversity in their participant groups, prompting this thesis to investigate the impact of music on pain across individuals from varied socio-cultural backgrounds. It also includes a comparative study of five music genres – urban, electronic, classical, rock, and pop. Both studies found that preferred music, regardless of music genre or socio-cultural background, consistently reduced pain more effectively than non-preferred music. A global survey across 20 countries with over 33,000 participants revealed that almost 90% of people would like to listen to music when in pain. The thesis further explores how music is implemented in healthcare from the patient’s perspective, showing that many patients are unaware of the option, and even when they are, they often feel uncomfortable and/or awkward requesting it, or fear judgment from medical staff regarding their musical taste. This research is part of a unique duo-PhD collaboration with Antonia Becker. With their shared message—“science is something you do together”—the duo was selected for Faces of Science by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and invited to present at a palace symposium at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.