Effects of music listening on anxiety and physiological responses in patients undergoing awake craniotomy.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of music listening on the level of anxiety and physiological responses for awake craniotomy.

METHODS: An experimental design with randomization was applied in this study. Participants in experimental group (19 patients) selected and listened music at their preferences in the waiting room and throughout the entire surgical procedure in addition to usual care while control group (19 patients) only gave usual care. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), heartbeat, breathing, and blood pressure were collected for analysis.

RESULTS: The results of this study showed that after music listening, there was significant decrease in the level of anxiety (p<.001). The findings also showed that the music intervention significantly reduced heartbeat rate 84.5 (p<.004), systolic pressure 42 (p<.001), and diastolic pressure 38 (p<.001) over time. We concluded that music listening is associated with a decreased level of anxiety and distress after awake craniotomy patients.

CONCLUSION: The results of this study can provide perioperative nursing care in providing music listening when patients were in the waiting room and during surgery to reduce the anxiety so as to reach the goal of human care and improve perioperative nursing care.