Use of Operating Theatre Background Music: Opinion of Patients

Aim: To determine the opinion of patients on the use of operating theatre background music in tertiary health care facilities in Port Harcourt. Background: Music finds application in almost all spheres of society due to some beneficial effects. It has been used among patients in the intensive care setting, among hypertensives with associated lowering the systolic blood pressure, among endoscopy patients with significantly improved pain score and significantly reduced anxiety, for pain relief and relaxation, and also for expectant mothers in labour. Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among patients from March to June 2020 in two multispecialty tertiary healthcare facilities in Port Harcourt Nigeria. Using semi-structured questionnaires and convenience sampling method, 425 respondents were recruited. Data collected was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Results: Four hundred and two (94.6%) respondents loved listening to music at home. Two hundred and seventy-three (64.2%) respondents preferred to listen to music in operating theatre. Preference for timing of music usage in theatre was variable: before, during and after surgery. One hundred and forty-four (33.9%) respondents asserted that they would love to listen to music in theatre during surgery. Two hundred and thirty-three (55.5%) respondents asserted that there was no background music during their last surgery. Conclusion: Majority of patients were desirous of the use of music in the operating theatre, while a few others thought otherwise.