A prospective, randomised, controlled study examining binaural beat audio and pre‐operative anxiety in patients undergoing general anaesthesia for day case surgery

• Published in: Anaesthesia 2005-09, Vol.60 (9), p.874-877
• Main Authors: Padmanabhan, R., Hildreth, A. J., Laws, D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acoustic Stimulation - methods; Acute Disease; Adult; Aged; Ambulatory Surgical Procedures; Anesthesia; Anesthesia, General; Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Anxiety; Anxiety - therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Comparative analysis; Double-Blind Method; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Music Therapy - methods; Outpatient care facilities; Preoperative Care - methods; Prospective Studies; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Surgery
• ISSN: 0003-2409; 1365-2044
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.2005.04287.x

Summary Pre‐operative anxiety is common and often significant. Ambulatory surgery challenges our pre‐operative goal of an anxiety‐free patient by requiring people to be ‘street ready’ within a brief period of time after surgery. Recently, it has been demonstrated that music can be used successfully to relieve patient anxiety before operations, and that audio embedded with tones that create binaural beats within the brain of the listener decreases subjective levels of anxiety in patients with chronic anxiety states. We measured anxiety with the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire and compared binaural beat audio (Binaural Group) with an identical soundtrack but without these added tones (Audio Group) and with a third group who received no specific intervention (No Intervention Group). Mean [95% confidence intervals] decreases in anxiety scores were 26.3%[19–33%] in the Binaural Group (p = 0.001 vs. Audio Group, p