Objective To investigate the effects of resistance exercise combined with five-element music therapy on anxiety and quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods A total of 160 T2DM patients were divided into a control group, a resistance exercise group, a five-element music group, or a resistance exercise combined with five-element music group (referred to as combined group) according to the random number table method, with 40 cases in each group. After excluding 17 patients with poor compliance or who were lost to follow-up during the study period, the control group consisted of 37 cases, the resistance exercise group had 35 cases, the five-element music group included 35 cases, and the combined group comprised 36 cases in the end. The control group received routine nursing, based on which the rest of the groups received the intervention of resistance exercise, five-element music, and resistance exercise combined with five-element music, respectively. The following items were compared between the four groups: the total score of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety (HADS-A) and the scores of eight dimensions of the Chinese version of 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), namely, general health perceptions, physical functioning, physical role functioning, bodily pain, vitality, social functioning, emotional role functioning, and mental health. Results Before the intervention, there was no statistically significant difference in the HADS-A total score or eight scores of the Chinese version of SF-36 between the four groups (all P>0.05). Compared with those before the intervention, the total scores of HADS-A decreased while the eight scores of the Chinese version of SF-36 increased in the resistance exercise group, the five-element music group, and the combined group after 1 year of intervention; the total score of HADS-A in the control group decreased, and except for the physical functioning dimension score, the scores of the other 7 dimensions of the Chinese version of SF-36 increased after 1 year of intervention (all P<0.05). After a year of intervention, the combined group's HADS-A total score was the lowest, and the resistance exercise group's and the five-element music group's were lower than the control group's; the scores of the physical functioning dimension of the Chinese version of SF-36 in the control group, resistance exercise group, five-element music group, and combined group increased in turn; the scores of the physical role functioning and emotional role functioning dimensions of the Chinese version of SF-36 in the five-element music group and the combined group were both higher than those in the control group and the resistance exercise group; the scores of the bodily pain, vitality, and mental health dimensions of the Chinese version of SF-36 in the resistance exercise group, the five-element music group, and the combined group were all higher than those in the control group; the score of the general health perceptions dimension of the Chinese version of SF-36 in the combined group was higher than that in the control group and that in the five-element music group, and the score of the general health perceptions dimension of the Chinese version of SF-36 in the resistance exercise group was higher than that in the control group; the scores of the social functioning dimension of the Chinese version of SF-36 in the control group, five-element music group, resistance exercise group, and combined group increased in turn (all P<0.05). Conclusion Both resistance exercise and five-element music therapy can effectively improve the anxiety and quality of life in patients with T2DM, and their combination can have a better intervention effect.

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