The impact of music therapy on pain and stress reduction during oocyte retrieval – a randomized controlled trial

Research Question Does music therapy help in reducing pain and anxiety in women undergoing transvaginal ultrasound-guided oocyte retrieval (TUGOR)? Design In this randomized controlled open label study, 209 participants were recruited and randomized into three groups (music group, n = 70; headphone group, n = 70; control group, n = 69). Patients' psychological status was assessed using the visual analogue scale of pain (VAS-P), satisfaction of pain control, state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI), Beck depression inventory (BDI), and general health questionnaire (GHQ). Stress biomarkers, including salivary alpha amylase (sAA) and salivary cortisol (sCort), were measured before and after TUGOR. Results No significant differences were found in psychological scoring of STAI, BDI, GHQ and the stress biomarkers. Although neither the anxiety scores nor the analgesic requirements differed among the three groups, the visual measure of vaginal pain (median, range) showed music group (20,0–70) was significantly (P = 0.005) lower than headphone group (30,0–90) and control group (30,0–100). The degree of satisfaction with pain control (median, range) in the music group (80,30–100), was significantly (P = 0.001) higher than the headphone group (80,10–100) and control group (70,0–100). Conclusion Music is a simple, inexpensive and effective way to reduce pain score and increase satisfaction with pain control during TUGOR procedure, which may justify its routine use.