, Stacey Springs2
, Emmeline Edwards3
, Tasha L. Golden4
, Julene K. Johnson5
, Debra S. Burns6
, Melita Belgrave7
, Joke Bradt8
, Christian Gold9,10,11
, Assal Habibi12
, John R. Iversen13
, Miriam Lense14
, Jessica A. MacLean15
, Susan M. Perkins16
1Indiana University, School of Nursing and School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
2Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge, MA, United States
3National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
4University of Florida, Center for Arts in Medicine, Gainseville, FL, United States
5University of California San Francisco, Institute for Health & Aging, San Francisco, CA, United States
6University of Memphis, College of Communication and Fine Arts, Memphis, TN, United States
7Arizona State University, School of Music, Dance, and Theatre, Tempe, AZ, United States
8Drexel University, Department of Creative Arts Therapies, Philadelphia, PA, United States
9NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS, Bergan, Norway
10Grieg Academy Department of Music, University of Bergan, Norway
11Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria
12University of Southern California, Brain and Creativity Institute, Los Angeles, CA, United States
13McMaster University, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
14Vanderbilt University, School of Medicine and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
15Indiana University, Department of Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences and Program in Neuroscience, Bloomington, IN, United States
16Indiana University, School of Medicine and Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indianapolis, IN, United States
©2025 Jaseng Medical Foundation
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to our Advisory Panel members: Wen G. Chen, PhD; Emmeline Edwards, PhD; Tasha Golden, PhD; Julene Johnson, PhD; Susan Magsamen, MAS; Coryse St. Hillaire-Clarke, PhD; Dana Greene-Schloesser, PhD; Stacey Springs, PhD. Special thanks to Elizabeth Harman, PhD, MT-BC for assistance with reference management and formatting.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing: SLR. Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing: SS. Conceptualization, Investigation, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing: EE. Conceptualization, Investigation, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing: TLG. Conceptualization, Investigation, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing: JKJ. Investigation, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing: DSB. Investigation, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing: MB. Investigation, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing: JB. Investigation, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing: CG. Investigation, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing: AH. Investigation, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing: JRI. Investigation, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing: ML. Investigation, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing: JAM. Investigation, Validation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing: SMP.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Author Use of AI Tools Statement
The authors declare that no Generative AI was used in the creation of the manuscript.
Funding
The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article. This study was funded by the Walther Cancer Foundation through Dr. Sheri Robb’s endowed professorship.
Ethical Statement
The Human Research Protection Program of the Indiana University waived the need for ethics approval and oversight for the collection, analysis, and publication of anonymized data for this non-interventional study. Invited survey participants were provided details about the study (purpose, duration, and procedures) and that individual responses would be kept confidential. Accepting the invitation to complete the survey constituted participants’ consent to participate.
| Item Number | Item | Location** (Page or Appendix Number) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Brief Name† Provide the name or phrase that describes the intervention. |
|
| 2 |
Intervention Theory and/or Scientific Rationale Provide a rationale for the music and/or music experience(s). Specify how essential features of the music and music experience(s) are expected to influence targeted outcomes. |
|
| 3 |
Intervention Content For Items 3a – 3e, describe the music intervention with enough detail to support replication. When applicable, describe procedures for tailoring the intervention. |
|
| 3a |
Music Selection Describe the process for how music was selected including who was involved in music selection. |
|
| 3b |
Music Specify key details about the music that may be relevant to specified outcomes of interest. Characteristics may include compositional features of the music (such as tempo, harmony, rhythm, pitch, tonality, form, instrumentation)‡, sound intensity or volume, lyrics, and/or how the music relates to the participants’ cultural identity and heritage. When using published music, provide reference for a sound recording or sheet music. |
|
| 3c |
Music Delivery Method Provide details about how music was provided to or created with participants (such as live, recorded, computer generated).‡ Include any details necessary for replication. This might include size of performing group, use of playback equipment, person controlling volume. |
|
| 3d |
Materials List all materials necessary for the music experience. Include music and non-music equipment and materials. |
|
| 3e |
Intervention Strategies Describe the music intervention strategy or strategies being studied (such as music listening, improvisation, song writing, rhythmic auditory stimulation).‡ |
|
| 4 |
Interventionist Specify interventionist qualifications, credentials, training, and/or experience. Indicate how many interventionists delivered the music experience. |
|
| 5 |
Individual or Group Intervention Specify whether interventions were delivered to individuals or groups of individuals. For group interventions, specify the size of the group. |
|
| 6 |
Setting Describe where the intervention was delivered. Include location, privacy level, ambient sound, and/or any other factors that may have affected participants’ experiences. |
|
| 7 |
Intervention Delivery Schedule Report number of sessions, session length (for example, 60 min), frequency (for example, 3x/week), time interval between sessions (for example, single day, three consecutive days), and duration (for example, over 4 weeks).‡ Include practice, experiences, or tasks that are assigned to participants between intervention sessions. |
|
| 8 |
Treatment Fidelity Describe strategies and/or measures used to ensure that the music intervention was delivered and received as intended. |
We recommend using this checklist in conjunction with the Reporting Guidelines for Music-Based Intervention checklist: Explanation & Elaboration Guide [39].
The focus of the RG-MBI is on reporting details of the music-based intervention under investigation. Importantly, the checklist was designed to be used in conjunction with methodological checklists such as CONSORT (for randomized controlled trials), SPIRIT for clinical trial protocols, and other study designs (see www.equator-netowrk.org). For example, when reporting findings from a randomized controlled trial, the RG-MBI checklist can serve as an extension of Item 5: Interventions on the CONSORT 2010 checklist.
* Reproduced with permission from [38].
** Use N/A if an item is not applicable for the intervention being described.
† Item 1 is taken from the TIDieR checklist. Following RG-MBI item validation, we ordered RG-MBI Items 2–8 to coincide with the order of TIDieR items based on content.
‡ Parenthetical details are examples only; they are not intended to be exhaustive.
| Item Number | Item | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brief Name Provide the name or phrase that describes the intervention. |
|
| 2 | Intervention Theory and/or Scientific Rationale Provide a rationale for the music and/or music experience(s). Specify how essential features of the music and music experience(s) are expected to influence targeted outcomes. |
|
| 3 | Intervention Content For Items 3a – 3e, describe the music intervention with enough detail to support replication. When applicable, describe procedures for tailoring the intervention. |
|
| 3a | Music Selection Describe the process for how music was selected including who was involved in music selection. |
|
| 3b | Music Specify key details about the music that may be relevant to specified outcomes of interest. Characteristics may include compositional features of the music (such as tempo, harmony, rhythm, pitch, tonality, form, instrumentation) |
|
| 3c | Music Delivery Method Provide details about how music was provided to or created with participants (such as live, recorded, computer generated). |
|
| 3d | Materials List all materials necessary for the music experience. Include music and non-music equipment and materials. |
|
| 3e | Intervention Strategies Describe the music intervention strategy or strategies being studied (such as music listening, improvisation, song writing, rhythmic auditory stimulation). |
|
| 4 | Interventionist Specify interventionist qualifications, credentials, training, and/or experience. Indicate how many interventionists delivered the music experience. |
|
| 5 | Individual or Group Intervention Specify whether interventions were delivered to individuals or groups of individuals. For group interventions, specify the size of the group. |
|
| 6 | Setting Describe where the intervention was delivered. Include location, privacy level, ambient sound, and/or any other factors that may have affected participants’ experiences. |
|
| 7 | Intervention Delivery Schedule Report number of sessions, session length (for example, 60 min), frequency (for example, 3x/week), time interval between sessions (for example, single day, three consecutive days), and duration (for example, over 4 weeks). |
|
| 8 | Treatment Fidelity Describe strategies and/or measures used to ensure that the music intervention was delivered and received as intended. |
We recommend using this checklist in conjunction with the Reporting Guidelines for Music-Based Intervention checklist: Explanation & Elaboration Guide [ The focus of the RG-MBI is on reporting details of the music-based intervention under investigation. Importantly, the checklist was designed to be used in conjunction with methodological checklists such as CONSORT (for randomized controlled trials), SPIRIT for clinical trial protocols, and other study designs (see Reproduced with permission from [ Use N/A if an item is not applicable for the intervention being described. Item 1 is taken from the TIDieR checklist. Following RG-MBI item validation, we ordered RG-MBI Items 2–8 to coincide with the order of TIDieR items based on content. Parenthetical details are examples only; they are not intended to be exhaustive.