The effect of musical intervention on pain and comfort level of patients undergoing open heart surgery during the postoperative waking process

This study was conducted experimentally to examine the effect of musical intervention on the pain and comfort level of patients undergoing open heart surgery during the postoperative waking process. The sample of the study consisted of openheart surgery patients who received mechanical ventilation support in the cardiovascular surgery intensive care unit between January and October 2022 at Balıkesir University Health Practice and Research HospitalThe study sample consisted of 52 patients who volunteered and met the inclusion criteria. Data were collected using the 'Patient Information Form' including socio-demographic data, Numerical Pain Scale' and 'General Comfort Scale'. The experimental group patients (n=26) received musical intervention while on mechanical ventilation support in the intensive care unit after open heart surgery. Control group patients (n=26) underwent routine postoperative intensive care procedure. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, Mann Whitney U test and Wilcoxon test were used to analyze the data. 59.6% of the participants were 60 years of age or older, 57.7% were male, 94.2% were married, 57.7% were primary school graduates, 63.5% had not been hospitalized in intensive care before and 69.2% had chronic diseases. The mean scores of the general comfort scale and pain score of the patients in the control group were 135.69±10.73 and 4.73±2.83, respectively. The mean scores of the general comfort scale and pain score of the patients in the experimental group were 144.07±17.23 and 3.80±1.87, respectively. It was found that there was a significant difference between the mean scores of the General Comfort Scale and its sub-dimensions of relief and relaxation levels after musical intervention in the experimental group patients (p˂0.05), but there was no significant difference between the mean scores of the pain score (p˃0.05). The findings are clear the musical program applied during the intensive care period in patients undergoing cardiac surgery intervention has a positive impact on comfort. It is recommended that musical intervention be applied to patients undergoing open heart surgery in addition to medical treatment, taking into account the number of sessions and music preferences. Keywords: Open heart surgery, intensive care unit, music therapy, pain, comfort