The Effect of Music Therapy on the Pain and Anxiety Levels of Patients Experiencing Wound Healing by Suturing in the Emergency Wards

BACKGROUND: A patient experiences high pain and anxiety during laceration healing. One of the non-pharmacological methods of pain and anxiety relief is using music. OBJECTIVES: This study was outlined to examine the impact of music therapy on the pain and anxiety levels of patients experiencing wound healing by suturing in the emergency wards. METHODS: The study population for this randomized controlled clinical trial was all patients aged 18 - 65 years who were referred to the Emergency Ward of Imam Khomeini and Buali Sina hospitals, Sari, Iran, to suture the hand or foot. Thirty people were included from each group in the study. In the intervention group, traditional Iranian wordless music (Peyk Sahar track) was played with headphones from when the patient was placed on the bed for suturing to the end, and the duration was recorded. In the control group, sutures were made according to the usual procedure. The pain level was measured by a visual analog scale in two stages before washing and immediately after the anesthetic injection. Moreover, the anxiety level was assessed in three steps, before washing the wound, after the end of the anesthetic injection, and immediately after suturing. Data were analyzed by the SPSS software version 22. Descriptive statistics, including mean and standard deviation, and inferential statistics, such as Exact Fisher’s test, Mann-Whitney test, and Wilcoxon, were used to describe and analyze the variables. RESULTS: The mean pain before washing the wound (before music therapy) and after the end of the anesthetic injection was not significantly different between the intervention group (5.38 ± 1.31 and 3.71 ± 1.98, respectively) and the control group (5.31 ± 1.69 and 4.60 ± 2.31, respectively) (P = 0.27 and 0.057, respectively). The mean anxiety before washing the wound, after the end of anesthesia injection, and immediately after finishing the suture was 3.37 ± 0.89, 2.73 ± 1.23, and 1.27 ± 0.52 in the intervention group, and 3.50 ± 0.97, 3.07 ± 1.33, and 2.07 ± 1.14 in the control group, respectively. The mean anxiety at all three times was significantly different between the two groups (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The study results indicated that music therapy lowered pain without a statistically significant difference. However, music therapy significantly reduced anxiety. Therefore, it is recommended to use music therapy to reduce pain and anxiety in patients.