Skip to content

Effect of Music on Patient Comfort

Music Listening During Anesthesia Induction and Emergence: Assessing Its Role in Enhancing Patient Comfort

Status
Active, not recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT07206186
Enrollment
100
Registered
2025-10-03
Start date
2025-06-05
Completion date
2026-09-01
Last updated
2026-07-20

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Perioperative Anxiety

Keywords

Perioperative Anxiety, Music, Music intervention, State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), NASA Task Load Index, Anesthesia, Patient Comfort

Brief summary

Perioperative anxiety remains a prevalent and significant concern for patients undergoing surgery, with substantial impacts on postoperative pain perception, patient satisfaction and recovery. Historically, anxiolytics (e.g. benzodiazepines) were often routinely administered preoperatively in this context, accepting the potential negative side effects of pharmacotherapy. In recent literature, there is an increasing focus on alternative, non-pharmacological methods for anxiety reduction, such as music, music therapy, virtual reality, and hypnosis. Music can represent an effective and cost-efficient option to reduce perioperative anxiety and stress. Most randomized controlled trials on this topic (music group vs. non-music group) have been conducted in pediatric patient populations, often showing significant results (i.e. significantly less anxiety in the music group, measured using standardized scales or inventories). In adult patient populations, considerably fewer randomized controlled trials with music interventions for perioperative anxiety reduction have been conducted so far. This study aims to evaluate the role of music during anesthesia induction and emergence for perioperative anxiety reduction in a randomized controlled trial. Patients will be randomized preoperatively into either the intervention group (50 patients, music) or the control group (50 patients, no music), and a baseline level of preoperative anxiety will be assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). In the intervention group, music of the patient's choice will be played starting from their arrival in the operating room during anesthesia induction, and again after the end of surgery during emergence from anesthesia. Afterwards, the effects of the music intervention on the patients' subjective well-being will be assessed in the intervention group postoperatively before discharge from the recovery room using four specific questions. In both groups, the State Anxiety Inventory (SAI) portion of the STAI will also be administered and the results compared. In addition, the NASA Task Load Index will be administered to the attending anesthesiologists in both groups to evaluate whether the subjective workload of the anesthesiologists changes as a result of the music intervention.

Interventions

OTHERMusic

Music as per patient choice

Sponsors

Medical University of Vienna
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE

Masking description

Due to the study design (i.e. listening to music over a speaker), masking is not possible.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 70 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Written informed consent * Elective ophthalmological surgery under general anesthesia (e.g. strabismus surgery, cataract surgery or other lens surgery, glaucoma surgery, keratoplasty or other corneal transplantation, vitrectomy or other retinal surgery, lacrimal duct surgery) * Age: 18-70 years * ASA score I-II (American Society of Anesthesiologists)

Exclusion criteria

* Pre-existing psychiatric disorder (e.g. anxiety disorder, PTSD, depression) * Chronic pain patients * Language barrier * Anticipated difficult airway * Pregnancy

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Impact of listening to self-selected music during anesthesia induction and emergence on patient well-beingPostoperatively before discharge from the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU)The primary objective of this randomized controlled trial is to assess the impact of listening to self-selected music during anesthesia induction and emergence on patient well-being, as measured by four specific questions: 1. I enjoyed listening to the music I chose, during the anesthesia induction and emergence. 2. Listening to the music I chose, during anesthesia induction and emergence had an anxiety relieving effect. 3. Listening to the music I chose, during anesthesia induction and emergence had a stress-relieving effect. 4. The next time I have a general anesthesia, I would like to listen to self-selected music during anesthesia induction and emergence. These questions will be answered using a Likert scale (strongly disagree - disagreee - neither agree nor disagree - agree - strongly agree).

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Sex-specific differences regarding the primary objectivePostoperatively before discharge from the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU)
State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)Pre- and postoperativelyState Anxiety Inventory (SAI): pre- and postoperatively Trait Anxiety Inventory (TAI): preoperatively
NASA Task Load Index (attending anesthesiologist)After anesthesia induction + after handover to the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) teamThe NASA Task Load Index will be completed twice by the attending anesthesiologist in the presence of the study team: once after anesthesia induction, once patient stability and adequate anesthesia are confirmed, and again after anesthesia delivery, once the patient is stable in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) and all relevant information has been relayed to the PACU team.
Attempts at airway managementAfter anesthesia inductionIntubation attempts Attempts to place a laryngeal mask
Adverse eventsDuring surgeryIncluding but not limited to: Difficult intubation \> 3 attempts Respiratory complications (e.g. bronchospasm, laryngospasm) Hemodynamic complications (severe hypotension (MAP \>50 for more than 5 minutes), severe bradycardia (heart rate \< 40)) Cardiac arrest
Postoperative pain in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU)During the stay in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU)Opioid equivalents Non-opioid analgetic medication

Countries

Austria

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORMarion Wiegele, Priv.-Doz. DDr.

Medical University of Vienna

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Jul 21, 2026