Effect of music in endoscopy procedures: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Endoscopies are common clinical examinations that are somewhat painful and even cause fear and anxiety for patients. We performed this systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to determine the effect of music on patients undergoing various endoscopic procedures.

We searched the Cochrane Library, Issue 6, 2013, PubMed, and EMBASE databases up to July 2013. Randomized controlled trials comparing endoscopies, with and without the use of music, were included. Two authors independently abstracted data and assessed risk of bias. Subgroup analyses were performed to examine the impact of music on different types of endoscopic procedures.

Twenty-one randomized controlled trials involving 2,134 patients were included. The overall effect of music on patients undergoing a variety of endoscopic procedures significantly improved pain score (weighted mean difference [WMD] = -1.53, 95% confidence interval [CI] [-2.53, -0.53]), anxiety (WMD = -6.04, 95% CI [-9.61, -2.48]), heart rate (P = 0.01), arterial pressure (P < 0.05), and satisfaction score (SMD = 1.83, 95% CI [0.76, 2.91]). Duration of the procedure (P = 0.29), except for gastrointestinal endoscopy (P = 0.03), and sedative or analgesic medication dose (P = 0.23, P = 0.12, respectively) were not significantly decreased in the music group, compared with the control group. Furthermore, music had little effect for patients undergoing colposcopy and bronchoscopy in the subanalysis.

Our meta-analysis suggested that music may offer benefits for patients undergoing endoscopy, except in colposcopy and bronchoscopy.