Complementary Therapies in Medicine (2014) 22, 614—620 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect j ourna l ho me pa g e: www.elsevierhealth.com/journals/ctim Exercise training and music therapy in elderly with depressive syndrome: A pilot study W. Verrusio a,* , P. Andreozzi a , B. Marigliano b , A. Renzi c , V. Gianturco a , M.T. Pecci d , E. Ettorre a , M. Cacciafesta a , N. Gueli a a Department of Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Nephrological, and Geriatric Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy b Internal Medicine, Campus Bio-medico of Rome, Rome, Italy c Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, ‘‘Sapienza’’ — University of Rome, Italy d ‘‘Science of Aging’’ Interdepartmental Research Center — Sapienza University of Rome, Italy Available online 6 June 2014 KEYWORDS Anxiety; Depression; Exercise; Music therapy; Elderly; Rehabilitation Summary Objective: Recent studies have thrown doubt on the true effectiveness of anti-depressants in light and moderate depression. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of physical train- ing and music therapy on a sample group of subjects affected by light to moderate depression versus subjects treated with pharmacological therapy only. Design and setting: Randomized controlled study. Patients were randomized into two groups. Subjects in the pharmacotherapy group received a therapy with antidepressant drugs; the exer- cise/music therapy group was assigned to receive physical exercise training combined with listening to music. The effects of interventions were assessed by differences in changes in mood state between the two groups. Main outcome measures: Medically eligible patients were screened with the Hamilton Anxiety Scale and with the Geriatric Depression Scale. We used plasmatic cytokine dosage as a stress marker. Results: We recruited 24 subjects (mean age: 75.5 ± 7.4, 11 M/13 F). In the pharmacotherapy group there was a significant improvement in anxiety only (p < 0.05) at 6-months. In the exer- cise/music therapy was a reduction in anxiety and in depression at 3-months and at 6-months (p < 0.05). We noted an average reduction of the level of TNF-a from 57.67 (±39.37) pg/ml to 35.80 (±26.18) pg/ml. ∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Nephrological, and Geriatric Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale del Policlinico 155, 00161 Roma, Italy. Tel.: +39 3490745274. E-mail address: walter.verrusio@uniroma1.it (W. Verrusio). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2014.05.012 0965-2299/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.