MusicNCT03415620
Perioperative Music Listening on Anxiety, Pain, Analgesia Use and Patient Satisfaction
A study testing Music listening in people with Music and Pain, run by KK Women's and Children's Hospital at 1 site in Singapore.
Trial summary
The use of music to relieve pain has been studied in many forms of medicines and has been proven to reduce anxiety, pain and analgesic use in the perioperative setting. However, music listening as an inexpensive and duplicable method has not been investigated and implemented in the local context. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 21 to 70 years, women only
- What is being tested?
- Music listening
- Type of treatment
- Surgery or procedure
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 410 participants
- Where
- 1 siteSingapore
- Study dates
- 3 Jan 2018to 31 Dec 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 21 to 70 years
- Women only
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Healthy participants who are American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) 1 and 2 (with well-controlled medical problems);
- Undergo day surgery, same-day-admission gynecologic surgery or cesarean section;
- No hearing impairment.
Who cannot join
- Patients with significant respiratory disease and obstructive sleep apnea;
- Patients who are unable to read and understand the hospital anxiety questionnaire.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Singapore1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
KK Women's and Children's Hospital
Singapore, 229899
Ban Leong Sng, MBBS, MMED, +6563941081, sng.ban.leong@singhealth.com.sg
About this study
Official title: The Use of Perioperative Music Listening on Anxiety, Pain, Analgesia Use and Patient Satisfaction in Patients Undergoing Surgery
The use of music to relieve pain has been studied in many forms of medicines and has been proven to reduce anxiety, pain and analgesic use in the perioperative setting. However, music listening as an inexpensive and duplicable method has not been investigated and implemented in the local context. The investigators hereby propose a prospective study to recruit patients undergoing surgery to evaluate the effectiveness of music in pain relief and post-operative recovery; as well as the implementation and operational readiness of music listening.
Read the detailed description
Some tissue injury is often unavoidable during surgery, which leads to unavoidable pain and anxiety during the perioperative and post-operative period. Acute post-operative pain and anxiety have been managed via pharmacological interventions. However, non-pharmacological interventions have also been shown to be safe and cost-effective, improve the overall patient experience, and improve outcomes across a variety of surgical settings.
Music has been shown to decrease perioperative pain and modulate the inflammatory response. Additionally, anxiety scores and pain scores have shown statistically significant reductions in the perioperative period, when music therapy was available. Currently only few studies investigate its effects during perioperative period especially in local setting. Thus, the investigators will investigate the feasibility and practicability of deploying music listening in KKH pain management and further determine the nature of the music (duration, genre) by fitting the local context in order to improve the patient outcome in perioperative settings.
Phase 1: A total of 300 patients will be offered to select from pre-determined lists of music of different genres or patient choice, before and after surgery. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) score, pain scores, analgesia usage, patient satisfaction, and quality of life measurement will be collected. Analysis of the type of music, duration of music listening, and the genre chosen will be analysed.
Phase 2: A hundred and ten women undergoing Caesarean delivery at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) in 1:1 allocation ratio of experimental (music listening) and control (no music listening) groups. Pain and psychological assessments and demographic data collection will be conducted before surgery, and those allocated to experimental group will be asked to use music listening before, during and after surgery.
- Conditions
- Music, Pain, Anxiety, Patient Satisfaction, Analgesia
- Being tested
- Music listening
- Medical subject headings
- Pain, Anxiety Disorders, Patient Satisfaction, Agnosia
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Music listeningProcedure or surgery
Patient is given an ipod with earphone and with saved playlist of different music genres. Music listening session will be given for 30 minutes before, during and after surgery. Questionnaires will be asked to fill in. All the earphones will be disinfected following the hospital's infection control guideline.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Music listening | Experimental | Phase 1: Before and after surgery, 300 patients will be offered an ipod with earphone, in which the ipod is equipped with saved playlist of different music genres to select from pre-determined lists of music of different genres or patient choice. Patient will choose the desired playlist and listen to the music for about 30 minutes. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) score, pain scores, analgesia usage, patient satisfaction, and quality of life measurement will be collected. Analysis of the type of music, duration of music listening, and the genre chosen will be analysed.
Phase 2: One hundred and ten women undergoing Caesarean delivery assigned to experimental (music listening) group will listen to the music before, during and after surgery. Pain and psychological assessments and demographic data collection will be conducted before and after surgery. Receives: Procedure: Music listening |
| No Music Listening | No intervention | Phase 2: Patients assigned to this group (n=55) will only have pain, psychological assessments and demographic data collection conducted before and after surgery. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Change in Pain score
Difference of Pain score before and after surgery. Pain scores (Numeric Rating Scale 0-10) will be asked, with zero being no pain, and 10 being the worst pain possible.
Measured: Baseline and 1 day
Secondary outcomes (5)
Change in Analgesia usage
Analgesia usage (name and dosage of pain medication) used before and after surgery
Measured: Baseline and 1 day
Change in Patient's satisfaction with the use of music listening (only music listening group)
Patient's satisfaction on music listening before and after surgery. Patient will be asked on their satisfaction level based on ordinal scale (Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor).
Measured: Baseline and 1 day
Change in Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) score (Phase 1 only)
HADS Anxiety and Depression score before and after surgery. HADS is commonly used by doctors to determine the levels of anxiety and depression that a patient is experiencing. Each item on the questionnaire is scored from 0-3 and this means that a person can score between 0 and 21 for either anxiety or depression. The HADS uses a scale and therefore the data returned from the HADS is ordinal. For each subscore (anxiety/depression), 0-7 = Normal; 8-10 = Borderline abnormal (borderline case); and 11-21 = Abnormal (case).
Measured: Baseline and 1 day
Change in EQ-5D-3L score
EQ-5D-3L score before and after surgery. EQ-5D-3L is a standardized instrument for measuring generic health status. It is made up for two components; health state description and evaluation. The health status is measured in terms of five dimensions (5D); mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression; each dimension ranging from 1-3. From these five dimensions, EQ-5D index is calculated, having a value between 0-1. The evaluation part involves an analogue scale, asking to mark health status on the day of the interview on a 20 cm vertical scale with end points of 0 and 100. Zero corresponds to " the worst health you can imagine", and hundred corresponds to "the best health you can imagine".
Measured: Baseline and 1 day
Change in Visual analog scale - anxiety (VAS-A) score
VAS-A score before and after surgery. A visual analogue scale depicting anxiety (VAS-A) comprises a 10 cm line will be administered, on which the participant marks her current degree of anxiety with the left end of the line being labelled "no anxiety" and the right end being labelled "maximum anxiety".
Measured: Baseline and 1 day
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted30 Jan 2018
- Study start3 Jan 2018
- Primary completion31 Dec 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion31 Dec 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (1)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for MusicStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by KK Women's and Children's HospitalThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Model description
- The randomized controlled phase will recruit 110 parturients.
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 410 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- KK Women's and Children's Hospital
- Sponsor type
- Other government
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Sng Ban Leong, KK Women's and Children's Hospital
- Investigators
- Ban Leong Sng, MBBS, MMED, Principal investigator, KK Women's and Children's Hospital
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03415620
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- MT2017-01
- Status last verified
- Aug 2026
- First submitted
- 10 Jan 2018
- Last updated
- 7 Aug 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Publications
Kakde A, Lim MJ, Shen H, Tan HS, Tan CW, Sultana R, Sng BL. Effect of music listening on perioperative anxiety, acute pain and pain catastrophizing in women undergoing elective cesarean delivery: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Anesthesiol. 2023 Apr 3;23(1):109. doi: 10.1186/s12871-023-02060-w.
PubMed 37013499
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 7 Aug 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- The Use of Perioperative Music Listening on Anxiety, Pain, Analgesia Use and Patient Satisfaction in Patients Undergoing Surgery
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03415620
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- MT2017-01
- Conditions
- Music, Pain, Anxiety, Patient Satisfaction, Analgesia
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 410 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- KK Women's and Children's HospitalOther government
- Study start
- 3 Jan 2018 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 31 Dec 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 31 Dec 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 30 Jan 2018 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The use of music to relieve pain has been studied in many forms of medicines and has been proven to reduce anxiety, pain and analgesic use in the perioperative setting. However, music listening as an inexpensive and duplicable method has not been investigated and implemented in the local context. The investigators hereby propose a prospective study to recruit patients undergoing surgery to evaluate the effectiveness of music in pain relief and post-operative recovery; as well as the implementation and operational readiness of music listening.
Detailed description
Some tissue injury is often unavoidable during surgery, which leads to unavoidable pain and anxiety during the perioperative and post-operative period. Acute post-operative pain and anxiety have been managed via pharmacological interventions. However, non-pharmacological interventions have also been shown to be safe and cost-effective, improve the overall patient experience, and improve outcomes across a variety of surgical settings.
Music has been shown to decrease perioperative pain and modulate the inflammatory response. Additionally, anxiety scores and pain scores have shown statistically significant reductions in the perioperative period, when music therapy was available. Currently only few studies investigate its effects during perioperative period especially in local setting. Thus, the investigators will investigate the feasibility and practicability of deploying music listening in KKH pain management and further determine the nature of the music (duration, genre) by fitting the local context in order to improve the patient outcome in perioperative settings.
Phase 1: A total of 300 patients will be offered to select from pre-determined lists of music of different genres or patient choice, before and after surgery. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) score, pain scores, analgesia usage, patient satisfaction, and quality of life measurement will be collected. Analysis of the type of music, duration of music listening, and the genre chosen will be analysed.
Phase 2: A hundred and ten women undergoing Caesarean delivery at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) in 1:1 allocation ratio of experimental (music listening) and control (no music listening) groups. Pain and psychological assessments and demographic data collection will be conducted before surgery, and those allocated to experimental group will be asked to use music listening before, during and after surgery.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- The randomized controlled phase will recruit 110 parturients.
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Music listening | Experimental | Procedure: Music listeningPhase 1: Before and after surgery, 300 patients will be offered an ipod with earphone, in which the ipod is equipped with saved playlist of different music genres to select from pre-determined lists of music of different genres or patient choice. Patient will choose the desired playlist and listen to the music for about 30 minutes. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) score, pain scores, analgesia usage, patient satisfaction, and quality of life measurement will be collected. Analysis of the type of music, duration of music listening, and the genre chosen will be analysed. Phase 2: One hundred and ten women undergoing Caesarean delivery assigned to experimental (music listening) group will listen to the music before, during and after surgery. Pain and psychological assessments and demographic data collection will be conducted before and after surgery. |
| No Music Listening | No intervention | –Phase 2: Patients assigned to this group (n=55) will only have pain, psychological assessments and demographic data collection conducted before and after surgery. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 21 to 70 years
- Sex
- Female only
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Healthy participants who are American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) 1 and 2 (with well-controlled medical problems);
- Undergo day surgery, same-day-admission gynecologic surgery or cesarean section;
- No hearing impairment.
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Patients with significant respiratory disease and obstructive sleep apnea;
- Patients who are unable to read and understand the hospital anxiety questionnaire.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Music listeningPatient is given an ipod with earphone and with saved playlist of different music genres. Music listening session will be given for 30 minutes before, during and after surgery. Questionnaires will be asked to fill in. All the earphones will be disinfected following the hospital's infection control guideline. | Procedure or surgery | Music listening |
Primary outcome
Change in Pain score
Time frame: Baseline and 1 day
Difference of Pain score before and after surgery. Pain scores (Numeric Rating Scale 0-10) will be asked, with zero being no pain, and 10 being the worst pain possible.
5 secondary outcomes
Change in Analgesia usage
Time frame: Baseline and 1 day
Change in Patient's satisfaction with the use of music listening (only music listening group)
Time frame: Baseline and 1 day
Change in Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) score (Phase 1 only)
Time frame: Baseline and 1 day
Change in EQ-5D-3L score
Time frame: Baseline and 1 day
Change in Visual analog scale - anxiety (VAS-A) score
Time frame: Baseline and 1 day
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 7 Aug 2026.
- Derived from this study: PubMed 37013499Kakde A, Lim MJ, Shen H, Tan HS, Tan CW, Sultana R, Sng BL. Effect of music listening on perioperative anxiety, acute pain and pain catastrophizing in women undergoing elective cesarean delivery: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Anesthesiol. 2023 Apr 3;23(1):109. doi: 10.1186/s12871-023-02060-w.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Ban Leong Sng, MBBS, MMED principal investigator
KK Women's and Children's Hospital
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Music listening in people with Music and Pain, run by KK Women's and Children's Hospital at 1 site in Singapore.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 7 Aug 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Singapore. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Ban Leong Sng, MBBS, MMED (+6563941081, sng.ban.leong@singhealth.com.sg), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Change in Pain score (time frame: Baseline and 1 day). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT03415620, which also lists 1 linked publication.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 7 Aug 2026.