The impact of listening to pleasant natural sounds on anxiety and physiologic parameters in patients undergoing coronary angiography: A pragmatic quasi-randomized-controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the impact of listening to pleasant natural sounds on anxiety and physiological parameters in patients undergoing coronary angiography.

METHODS: The present pragmatic quasi-randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on 130 patients undergone elective angiography. The participants were randomly divided into two groups, including a pleasant natural sounds group, and a control group (n1/2 65 per group). Spielberger's state/trait anxiety inventory was used to assess levels of anxiety. The patients' anxiety level and physiological parameters were measured at baseline, before, during, immediately after, and 20 min after coronary angiography.

RESULTS: The mean level of anxiety was similar in both arms at baseline (t = 1.317, df = 128, p = 0.190). The intervention arm displayed significantly lower anxiety levels than the control arm during the intervention (Wilks' lambda 0.11, Pillai's trace 0.89, P 0.001, F 2.05). The physiological parameters (systolic and diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, heart rate, and oxygen saturation) of both groups showed statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) over time and in group-by time interactions.

CONCLUSION: As an effective nursing intervention presenting no side-effects, listening to pleasant natural sounds can be helpful in the management of anxiety.