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Related Experiment Videos

Music and preoperative anxiety: a randomized, controlled study.

Shu-Ming Wang1, Lina Kulkarni, Jackqulin Dolev

  • 1Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06510, USA.

Anesthesia and Analgesia
|May 29, 2002
PubMed
Summary

Listening to patient-selected music before surgery significantly reduced self-reported anxiety. However, physiological measures of anxiety did not show significant differences between the music and control groups.

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Area of Science:

  • Anesthesiology
  • Psychology
  • Health Sciences

Background:

  • Preoperative anxiety is a common concern for surgical patients.
  • Previous research on music's anxiolytic effects has been limited by methodological issues.
  • Objective and rigorous evaluation is needed to confirm music's impact on anxiety.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the effect of music on preoperative anxiety using a robust study design.
  • To compare self-reported anxiety levels and physiological markers between music and control groups.

Main Methods:

  • Adult patients undergoing surgery were randomized into two groups: music intervention (n=48) and control (n=45).
  • The music group listened to 30 minutes of patient-selected music preoperatively.
  • Anxiety was assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and physiological measures (heart rate, blood pressure, electrodermal activity, serum cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine) before, during, and after the intervention.

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Main Results:

  • Patients in the music group reported significantly lower anxiety levels post-intervention compared to the control group (P=0.001).
  • Self-reported anxiety decreased by 16% in the music group, while the control group showed no significant change.
  • No significant differences were observed in physiological measures of anxiety (electrodermal activity, blood pressure, heart rate, cortisol, catecholamines) between the groups.

Conclusions:

  • Preoperative music listening, as per patient choice, can effectively reduce self-reported state anxiety.
  • While subjective anxiety decreases, music does not appear to significantly alter objective physiological anxiety markers in the preoperative setting.