BACKGROUND: Most surgical patients experience perioperative anxiety. This anxiety can effect the amount of preanesthetic medication and anesthetic agents needed, and contributes to postoperative pain. The effect of music on perioperative patient anxiety was studied.

METHODS: Forty patients undergoing surgery with spinal anesthesia, were divided into two groups. Group I (n = 20) did not listen to music, and Group II (n = 20) listened to music selected by the patient. At ward, hemodynamic variables including systolic and diastolic blood pressures and pulse rates were measured as control values. Hemodynamic variables and the anxiety scores by the Hamilton anxiety rating scale and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were prepared for Group I and Group II in the operating room.

RESULTS: No difference was observed between the groups with regard to systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, or pulse rate when patients arrived at the operating room. In Group II, 30 minutes after listening to music, anxiety scores, VAS, systolic blood pressures, and mean arterial pressures were significantly lower than in Group I.

CONCLUSIONS: Music was found to effectively reduce intraoperative anxiety.