The Duration of Self-Selected Music Needed to Reduce Preoperative Anxiety

Purpose: Preoperative anxiety affects patients both physically and psychologically. It may also influence the patient's perioperative experience and result in reduced patient satisfaction with care and potentially delayed recovery. Previous research indicates that patients who listen to music in the perioperative setting experience less anxiety than patients who do not listen to music. Research does not address the duration of music required to effectively reduce anxiety in this population. Design: A randomized control trial was used. Methods: Two intervention groups (15-minute music and 30-minute music) and one control group (no music) were compared. Findings: Patients (n = 133) demonstrated less anxiety after listening to either 15 or 30 minutes of music (P < .0001). Patients (n = 47) who listened to 15 minutes of music demonstrated less anxiety than those who did not listen to music (P = .005), whereas patients (n = 41) who listened to 30 minutes of music demonstrated less anxiety than those who did not listen to music (P < .001). Conclusions: Listening to as little as 15 minutes of music preoperatively is an effective method to reduce anxiety in patients who are about to have surgery.