Music Interventions to Reduce Anxiety and Pain in Surgical Patients: An Umbrella Review.

Abstract

Purpose: Anxiety and pain are two of the most prevalent clinical problems seen in the perioperative period. Music intervention has been shown to decrease anxiety and pain levels in patients undergoing surgery. This umbrella review aimed to summarize current evidence regarding music listening and its effects on patient anxiety and pain during the perioperative period.

Design: Qualitative umbrella review including systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Methods: A detailed search strategy of systematic reviews and meta-analyses published between 2007 and 2023 was conducted on MEDLINE (Pubmed), CINAHL (EBSCO), EMBASE (OVID), PsycINFO (EBSCO), and Cochrane. Data extraction and methodological quality grading was performed independently by two separate authors.

Findings: Most included reviews found a statistically significant effect of music listening on anxiety and pain levels. All music interventions had high heterogeneity due to differing music types and characteristics. Music intervention by a certified music therapist and music preferences chosen by patients proved to have better results than listening to preassigned music.

Conclusions: Music listening is a safe, cost-effective, and easy-to-implement intervention that can be used as a sole approach or complementary therapy to decrease anxiety and pain levels during the perioperative period.