Preoperative and perioperative music to reduce anxiety during first-time phacoemulsification cataract surgery in the high-volume setting: randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE

To determine whether preoperative and perioperative music exposure reduced patient self-rated anxiety and physiologic indicators of stress during first-time phacoemulsification cataract surgery in the high-volume setting.

SETTING

Aravind Eye Care System, Pondicherry, India.

DESIGN

Prospective single-masked randomized controlled trial.

METHODS

Patients were provided music before and during first-time phacoemulsification in 1 group and patients underwent surgery without music in another group. Measurements of blood pressure (BP), heart rate, respiration rate, and a Likert scale anxiety rating were collected at preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative timepoints.

RESULTS

One hundred sixty-five patients (aged 53-65 years) were provided music using a portable MP3 player before and during first-time phacoemulsification, and 165 patients underwent surgery without music. Systolic and diastolic BPs were statistically significantly lower in the music intervention group at the postoperative timepoint, with similar physiologic measures between groups during the perioperative timepoints. In the preoperative period, before music exposure, 62 patients (38%) in the music group reported being very or extremely anxious. After 10 minutes of music exposure, only 7 patients (4%) reported this anxiety level. In the perioperative period, 80 patients (48%) in the intervention group reported feeling not at all or a little anxious, compared with 50 patients (30%) of the control group. In the postoperative period, 139 (84%) music group patients felt not at all or a little anxious postoperatively compared with 92 patients (56%) in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

Marked reductions in self-reported anxiety preoperatively, intraoperatively, and postoperatively when exposed to music and a statistically significant decrease in postoperative BP showed that music can be an inexpensive and effective solution to improve the patient experience of cataract surgery in the high-volume setting.