No Effect of Music on Anxiety and Pain During Transrectal Prostate Biopsies: A Randomized Trial

To investigate the effect of ambient music on anxiety and pain in men undergoing prostate biopsies.

Between September 2015 and June 2016, men undergoing office transrectal prostate biopsy at our institution were randomly assigned to music (n = 85) or control (n = 97) groups. We examined clinical characteristics, pathologic variables, and baseline anxiety using the Trait Instrument of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Primary outcomes included anxiety assessed by State Instrument of STAI (STAI-S) and pain using a visual analog scale.

There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between the music and control groups, including median age, prostate-specific antigen, use of magnetic resonance imaging-guided biopsies, or Trait Instrument of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The majority (93%) of patients indicated they desired music in their prebiopsy survey. There were no significant differences in STAI-S (33.7 ± 8.9 vs 34.4 ± 9.9, P = .6), pain score (2.3 ± 2.1 vs 2.0 ± 2.1, P = .3), or vital signs between the music and control groups, respectively. There were also no differences in STAI-S, visual analog scale, or vital signs between groups when stratified by age, prostate-specific antigen, or number of previous biopsies. Men who received music were more likely to request music for future prostate biopsy, compared to men who did not (93% vs 83%, P = .07, respectively).

This randomized study showed no difference in anxiety or pain scores for patients who had ambient music during transrectal prostate biopsy. Future studies are needed to discern the influence of details including method of music delivery, music type, and utilization of adjunct relaxation tools.