The Effect of Music on Preoperative Fear and Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Thyroid Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the impact of music on preoperative fear and anxiety in patients undergoing thyroid surgery.

Design: This was a randomized controlled prospective study.

Methods: This study was conducted at the general surgery clinic of a training and research hospital from April 10, 2021 to April 1, 2022. The study included 76 patients who were scheduled for thyroid surgery and were randomized into equal-sized intervention (music) and control groups. Participants in the music group were asked to listen to music for at least 30 minutes every 3 hours until surgery. Both groups completed the Surgical Fear Questionnaire (SFQ) and Anxiety Specific to Surgery Questionnaire (ASSQ) 24 hours before surgery and 1 hour before transfer to the operating room. Descriptive statistics, χ tests, independent and paired sample t tests, one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson's correlation were used for data analysis.

Findings: Although the post-test scores of both the music and control groups on the SFQ and ASSQ were significantly lower than the pretest scores, there was no significant difference between the two groups. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the sociodemographic characteristics and the obtained SFQ and ASSQ scores. A moderate positive correlation was found between the SFQ and ASSQ scores.

Conclusions: The findings indicate that listening to music did not reduce preoperative fear and anxiety in patients undergoing thyroid surgery.