Many people undergoing surgery experience significant anxiety during the preoperative stage and during the induction of anesthesia. A variety of pharmacological and behavioral modalities are used to treat this condition. Some of the pharmacological methods used include the administration of stress relieving drugs. The use of music as a part of preoperative therapy has been supported by American Music Therapy Association (Pritchard, 2009). A study by Ebneshahidi & Mohseni, (2008), found that music is a safe, easy, economical and effective way of relieving anxiety among patients awaiting surgery.
According to the association, music can cause positive change in mood and a reduction in the anxiety. Music therapy is based on interactive relationship between the patient and the therapist through enhanced communication (Cooke, Chaboyer, Schluter & Hiratos, 2005). According to Mitchell, (2003), music therapy reduces the pain intensity and distress among patients. Listening to music increases the release of oxytocin which increases calmness and diminishes the sensations of pain (Arslan, Ozer & Ozyury, 2007). Music therapy has also been shown to be important in the post-operative phase as it increases the calmness of the patients which is vital in wound healing and general recovery.
Music therapy is economical. The therapy sessions require cheap audio players. The audio players and a set of headphones cost an average of $55, while the purchase of music is approximately $250 per year. Moreover, technological advancements means that patients can use their cell phones as music players. The therapy sessions also do not call for costly facilitation since patients can listen to the music on their own in the waiting room without the necessity for a specially trained therapist (Cooke, Chaboyer, Schluter & Hiratos, 2005).
There are very few drawbacks in using music therapy. This mostly applies to the kind of music the patients listen to. Listening to grunge-rock during the preoperative phase has been associated with heightening anxiety. The therapy is not associated with negligible relative risk and has no effect on blood pressure.
References
Arslan, S., Ozer, N. & Ozyury F. (2007). Effect of music on preoperative anxiety in men
undergoing urogenital surgery. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing .26(2):46-54.
Cooke, M., Chaboyer, W., Schluter, P. & Hiratos, M. (2005). The effect of music on preoperative
anxiety in day surgery. Journal of Advanced Nursing. Vol. 52(1):47-55.
Ebneshahidi, A. & Mohseni, M. (2008). The effect of patient-selected music on early
postoperative pain, anxiety, and hemodynamic profile in cesarean section surgery.
Journal of Alternative Complementary Medicine. Vol. 14(7):827–831.
Mitchell, M. (2003) Patient anxiety and modern elective surgery: A literature review. Journal of
Clinical Nursing. Vol. 12:806-815.
Pritchard, M. (2009) Identifying and assessing anxiety in preoperative patients. Journal of
clinical Nursing Vol. 23(51); 35-40.
