Preferred music eased postoperative anxiety in a knee-replacement trial
Patients who heard their chosen music before and during surgery reported less anxiety and better recovery than those receiving standard care.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Patients assigned to preferred music reported lower anxiety after surgery, better recovery quality and greater satisfaction than the standard-care group. The music group also had lower pain scores at the 12th postoperative hour and needed less rescue pain medication. These results apply to knee replacement under spinal anesthesia; the abstract does not establish lasting benefits after recovery.
The abstract does not explain why not all randomized patients were analyzed or specify the timing of anxiety measurement. This abstract-based account cannot assess how those omissions affect the findings.
What researchers found
State anxiety score (STAI-S)
Preferred music versus standard care after surgery; exact assessment time unreported (p = .001).
Anxiety was the clearest quantified result
The reported anxiety-score difference exceeded the study's threshold for a clinically important change. Recovery scores also improved, but the abstract does not give their numerical difference, so the size of that benefit is harder to assess.
Other outcomes were mixed
The music group needed less rescue pain medication and had lower systolic blood pressure at several perioperative points. Heart rate showed no statistically significant difference, which limits how broadly the hemodynamic findings can be described.
The original publication
Effects of Patient-Preferred Music on Anxiety, Pain, and Quality of Recovery After Knee Arthroplasty Under Spinal Anesthesia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Nalbant B, Erdem G, Kose M et al.
Clin Nurs Res · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41999142
- Record checked
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