Evaluation of Preoperative Anxiety in Oncologic Patients Treated with Music Therapy

Abstract

Introduction: Anxiety consist in a set of behavioral manifestations divided into state and trait anxiety. Neuroimaging studies demonstrate the activation of several brain structures involved in the perception of each musical element.

Objective: To evaluate preoperative anxiety in oncologic patients treated with music therapy.

Methods: An experimental study was carried out in the preoperative period with elective oncologic patients at the anesthesiology and resuscitation service of Hospital Provincial Docente de Oncología María Curie, from January 2022 to January 2023. The study universe was made up of 200 patients and the simple random sample consisted of 60 of them, divided into two treatment groups of 30 patients each: experimental group and conventional group. Anxiety was evaluated using the Anxiety Inventory: Trait – State for adults.

Results: Patients aged 50 to 59 years predominated, accounting for 35.0 % of the cases. The preoperative anxiety value for both groups was high; the mean was very similar for both, being at 48.20 in the experimental group and 48.33 in the conventional group. After music therapy, the anxiety level in the experimental group was low, while it remained high in the conventional group. The mean for the experimental group was 23.30, with a standard deviation of 2.769; while the conventional group had a mean of 52 and a standard deviation of 2.244. The Mann-Whitney U test rejected the equality of the means for both groups.

Conclusions: Anxiety is focused on the emotion of fear and involves feelings of worry. The systematized approaches and guidelines for treatment with music therapy are valid within the application of the Anxiety Inventory: Trait – State.