Music Therapy with Female Surgical Patients: Effect on Anxiety and Pain

Pain and anxiety are common phenomena for surgical patients. Although music has been shown to be useful and have advantages, as an intervention for managing anxiety and pain, no study was located, using repeated measures. This study examined the effect of music therapy, at multiple times, on reducing pre- and post-operative anxiety, and post-operative pain sensation and pain distress, in 102 Malaysian female surgical patients. A pre/post-test design, with subjects randomly placed into either the music therapy group (n=51) or the control group (n=51), was used. Those in the music therapy group listened to self-selected music twice daily the day before surgery and for 3 days post-operative. Visual Analogue Scales were used to measure anxiety before and after the music intervention, as well as pain sensation and pain distress during the post-operative period. State-trait anxiety, during the pre- and post-operative periods, also was measured. Data were analyzed using the T-test and F-test for comparison between groups and across time.  The results showed that the music group reported lower pre-operative anxiety than the control group. The music group demonstrated reduced post-operative anxiety, pain sensation and pain distress. Music was found to have a cumulative effect, post-operatively, across the variables. In summary, listening to self-selected music the day before surgery and continuing for 3 days post-operatively was effective in reducing anxiety, pain sensation and pain distress. The findings suggest the use of music, as a complementary empirically-based nursing intervention, for reducing pre-operative anxiety, post-operative pain sensation and post-operative pain distress among female adult surgical patients.