The effect of music on pain and anxiety in patients receiving chemotherapy during COVID-19

Aim: This research has been conducted to determine the effect of music on pain and anxiety levels in patients receiving chemotherapy during COVID-19. Material Method: The research has been carried out in a real trial model with pretest-posttest control group. The universe of the research is constituted of the adult patients receiving chemotherapy, registered in the Turgut Ozal Medical Center Oncology policlinic. The sample of the study is consisted of 92 patients, 45 in experimental group and 47 in control group. The data have been collected by the researcher with Google Forms between March 2020 and July 2020, through the links sent to the phones of participants on the day they received chemotherapy. After the pretest, the patients in the experimental group were listened to the type of music they preferred from the predetermined maqams in a single session, for at least 20 minutes. No intervention was applied to patients in the control group. Results: The mean scores obtained from the post-test STAI (53.11±4.77), VAS (3.44±2.53) and SKÖ (2.24±0.80) scales in the experimental group have been determined to statistically significantly decrease when compared to the pre-test measurement data (STAI:54.26±4.26; VAS:4.22±2.41; SKÖ:2.58±1.05) (p<0.05). No statistically significant difference has been determined between pre-test and post-test mean scores of the patients in the control group. Conclusion: It has been observed that music applications reduce the pain and anxiety levels of patients receiving chemotherapy during the COVID-19 process. It can be recommended to use music applications in the management of pain and anxiety symptoms.