Poster (15W126)

Music to the ears: A pilot study into the effect of classical music in the endoscopy suite

Author(s)

Grace Chan, Jun Liong Chin, Mary Hackett Brennan, Genevieve Corrigan, Aftab Abdur Rahman, Garry Courtney

Department(s)/Institutions

Gastroenterology Department, St Luke’s General Hospital, Kilkenny

Introduction

Patients undergoing endoscopy are often anxious despite sedation. Improvements in endosocpy techniques, adequate bowel preparation, CO2 insufflation and the use of ScopeGuide are methods that have been employed to improve patients’ experience in endoscopy. However, the role of music is often overlooked despite music therapy being shown to provide stress relief and improve the comfort of patients undergoing endoscopic procedures.

Aims/Background

To evaluate the effect of classical music on patients undergoing endoscopic procedures.

Method

67 consecutive patients attending the endoscopy suite for procedures were included. Classical music was played continuously from the start to the end of each procedure. Patients were then given a questionnaire to evaluate their experience, comfort and music preferences prior to discharge.

Results

Of the 65 patients included, 33(50.8%) were male, with a mean age of 50.7 ±15.5 years. 21(32.3%) patients underwent gastroscopies(OGDs), 31(47.7%) underwent colonoscopies, 9(13.8%) underwent sigmoidoscopies and 4(6.2%) underwent both OGD as well as colonoscopy. The majority of patients (96.9%) admitted to generally enjoying music. When asked about their music preference, 46.2%(30/65) enjoyed country music, 43.1%(28/65) enjoyed classical music, 43.1%(28/65) enjoyed pop music, 30.8%(20/65) enjoyed rock music, 26.2%(17/65) enjoyed jazz and 10.8%(7/65) enjoyed rhythm/blues. 67.7%(44/65) patients had a very good endoscopic experience with only 2 patients describing their experience as very poor. The median comfort score was 1, indicating excellent comfort. The mean midazolam used was 2.9 ±2.8mg and the mean pethidine used was 27.4 ±24.9mg. After sedation was administered, 49.2%(32/65) actually noticed that there was music playing and only 41.5%(27/65) could correctly identify the genre of music being played. 50.8% (33/65) of patients described the music as relaxing and/or pleasant, with 49.2%(32/65) reporting that the music helped them during the procedure. Importantly, 75.4%(49/65) of patients believed that music actually helped the endoscopist performing their procedure.

Conclusions

We conclude that music enhances the patients’ endoscopic experience. The majority of patients also believed that music assisted the endoscopist in performing their procedure.

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