Effects of listening to Quran recitation on anxiety reduction in elective surgeries: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Anxiety is a common unpleasant reaction among patients undergoing surgery. Many non-pharmacological methods such as spiritual strength are effective in preoperative anxiety management. This study aimed to assess the effects of listening to Quran recitation on reducing preoperative anxiety. A systematic review was performed in Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, Arab World Research Source, and other relevant databases to collect the data. Randomized controlled trials about the effects of listening to Quran recitation on preoperative anxiety reduction in elective surgery were selected without any language and date restriction. Interventions with self-reading/self-recitation were excluded. The Cochran’s Q statistic and the I2 index with 50% threshold were used for calculating the heterogeneity and inconsistency index. Subgroup analysis was conducted based on the surgery type. The funnel plot was used to evaluate the possibility of publication bias. Twelve studies were included in the qualitative synthesis and nine studies in the quantitative synthesis. The meta-analysis showed a significant anxiety reduction with listening to Quran recitation. The heterogeneity between the included studies was statistically significant (Q = 23.05, I2 = 65.29, p = 0.003). The pooled effect size of anxiety was d = −8.893 (95% confidence interval (CI) = −10.763 to −7.022) (p < 0.001). The subgroup analysis showed that listening to Quran recitation reduces anxiety in major and minor surgeries. There was no publication bias (t = 0.907, p = 0.39) in the studies. The findings indicated that listening to Quran recitation can be considered a non-invasive and peaceful intervention to reduce preoperative anxiety in elective surgery.