The Effect of Different Audio Distraction Methods on Children's Postoperative Pain and Anxiety

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the study was to determine the effect of different auditory methods of attention distraction on postoperative pain and anxiety in children.

Design: The study was conducted as a pretest-posttest experimental study to determine the effect of classical music, Turkish music, and audiobook on the reduction of postoperative pain and anxiety in children.

Methods: The patient population of the study comprised children who had undergone a surgical operation in the pediatric surgery clinics. A total of 90 children were included in the sample of the study. The data were collected using the Visual Analog Scale, the Wong-Baker Faces Pain Scale, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for children, in addition to the sociodemographic data form of the child and the parent.

Findings: Classical music, Turkish music, and audiobook methods played an effective role in decreasing postoperative pain and the anxiety state in children. Classical music listening was the most effective method in reducing the pain in children in the postoperative period in the three groups in the study.

Conclusions: We demonstrated that different auditory attention distraction methods had a decreasing effect on postoperative pain and anxiety in children.

Keywords: anxiety; audiobook; child; music; postoperative pain.