Meaningful Music in Healthcare : Live-muziek en angst bij postoperatieve patiënten

Anxiety is a common complaint amongst postoperative patients, which could have negative effects on the rehabilitation after surgery. Pharmacological treatment has its disadvantages because of side effects, which increases the demand for a therapeutic option without these limitations. The current research studies live music as a treatment for postoperative anxiety. Three surgical wards of the UMCG have been visited for the time period of a week during which patients received approximately 5-10 minutes of live music according to his or her demands. 30-60 minutes beforehand a pretest with measurements of anxiety and physical parameters was performed, thirty to sixty minutes and 3 hours afterwards a post- and followuptest followed. Anxiety was measured using a VAS-scale and the SAI-questionnaire. A controlgroup received parallel measurements. Analysis showed no significant decrease in VAS-scores. For the SAI scores a significant decrease showed in both groups, for the patients who received music this was a considerable greater decrease. Multivariate analysis showed a negative relationship that is not significant (p=0,090) between live music and the posttest VAS anxiety score. Hence, this pilotstudy gives an indication that music can be a therapeutic treatment option for anxiety in postoperative patients. Future research in a larger population is needed to further explore this relationship.