The Effect of Comedy Films on Postoperative Pain and Anxiety in Surgical Oncology Patients

Objectives: To determine the effect of watching Turkish comedy films on postoperative pain and anxiety in oncology surgical patients. Design: This study was conducted using a pre- and post-test randomized controlled trial model. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in a general surgery clinic of a hospital in eastern Turkey between January 2016 and January 2017. The sample of the study consisted of 88 patients (44 test, 44 control) selected by using the randomized sampling method. In the experimental group, funny videos from Turkish old comedy movies were watched for 10 min before surgery. Anxiety, measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and vital signs were measured before and after the experimental protocol. In the analysis of the data, descriptive statistics, chi(2) and t test were used. Results: The state-trait anxiety pre- and post-test mean score of the experimental group was found to be 39.59 +/- 3.66 and 37.54 +/- 3.52 before and after watching the video, respectively, indicating a statistically significant difference between these two values (p <= 0.05). No statistically significant difference was found between the pre- and post-test state-trait anxiety scores of the patients in the control group. The decrease from the pre- to post-test mean pain score was determined as 0.65 +/- 1.05 in the experimental group and 0.11 +/- 0.96 in the control group. A statistically significant difference was found between the groups' post-test mean pain scores (p <= 0.05). Conclusion: The study results suggest that watching Turkish comedy movie videos has a positive effect on postoperative pain and anxiety in surgical oncology patients.