June 27, 2013

Joke Bradt, PhD, an associate professor in the Creative Arts Therapies Department, co-authored a Cochrane Systematic Review on music interventions for preoperative anxiety with Minjung Shim, a Creative Arts Therapies doctoral candidate. Alongside their colleague from Temple University, Cheryl Dileo, PhD, they reviewed 26 trials with a total of 2051 participants. The findings suggest that music listening may have a beneficial effect on preoperative anxiety. These findings are consistent with the findings of three other Cochrane systematic reviews by Bradt and colleagues on the use of music interventions for anxiety reduction in medical patients. Therefore, it is suggested that music interventions may provide a viable alternative to sedatives and anti-anxiety drugs for reducing preoperative anxiety.

The full text of this Cochrane review and others conducted by Bradt are available here.