Anxiety and Physiological Responses in Ambulatory Surgery

March 12, 2026 updated by: Yi-chen Wu, Da-Yeh University

Subjective Anxiety and Physiological Parameters in First-Time Ambulatory Surgery Patients

This study aims to investigate the effects of music intervention on subjective anxiety and physiological indicators, including heart rate, blood pressure, and heart rate variability, in first-time ambulatory surgery patients, and to compare the differential effects between self-selected and standardized music interventions.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

This study aims to investigate the effects of music intervention on subjective anxiety and physiological parameters in first-time ambulatory surgery patients. The physiological parameters include heart rate, blood pressure, and heart rate variability (HRV), while subjective anxiety will be assessed using standardized measurement scales. The study also compares the differential effects of two types of music interventions-self-selected music and standardized classical music-on patients' anxiety and physiological parameters. During the intervention, all music playback conditions, including timing, environment, and use of headphones, will be kept consistent to ensure comparability between groups. The results of this study will provide evidence on the clinical applicability of music as a non-pharmacological strategy for anxiety management.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
90

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Be at least 18 years old.
  2. Undergo outpatient surgery for the first time.
  3. Be mentally clear and able to communicate in Chinese and complete the questionnaire.
  4. Agree to wear physiological monitoring devices and sign the consent form.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Hearing impairment or the need to use a hearing aid.
  2. Currently using sleeping pills/sedatives or having a mental illness.
  3. Severe cardiovascular disease or having an implanted pacemaker.
  4. Diseases that affect autonomic nervous system function.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Self-selected Music Group
Participants may select and listen to light instrumental music, classical music, or natural sounds from the music list provided by the study according to their personal preference.
Behavioral: Self-selected Music intervention
This study adopted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design. Eligible outpatients undergoing surgery for the first time were recruited and randomly assigned, using block randomization, into three groups: a self-selected music group, a fixed-music group, and a control group. During the intervention period, participants in the music groups listened to music (self-selected or fixed) for 10 minutes in the preoperative nursing waiting area, while the control group received routine care. Data were collected at three time points: before surgery (T0), during the intervention (T1), and after surgery (T2).
Active Comparator: Fixed-music Group
Playing the same piece of classical music pre-selected by the research team.
Behavioral: Fixed-music Music intervention
Participants assigned to the standardized music group will listen to pre-selected classical music provided by the research team, aimed at promoting relaxation and focused attention. The selected music maintains a stable tempo of 60-70 beats per minute and is delivered at a sound level below 60 dB to ensure comfort and safety. Music will be administered via headphones under standardized conditions. The timing, duration, listening environment, and outcome measurement procedures will be identical to those used in the personalized music group to ensure consistency of intervention across study arms
No Intervention: No-music
Participants wore earmuff headphones and wearable physiological monitoring devices to measure HRV, with no music played during the process.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Subjective Anxiety: Visual Analog Scale for Anxiety (VAS-A)
Time Frame: Baseline (T0, pre-intervention); during the 10-minute intervention (T1); immediately after surgery in the postoperative recovery period (T2)]
Subjective anxiety will be assessed using the Visual Analog Scale for Anxiety (VAS-A; score range: 0-10). Higher scores indicate higher levels of anxiety. Measurements will be recorded at baseline (T0, pre-intervention), during the 10-minute intervention (T1), and immediately after surgery in the postoperative recovery period (T2).
Baseline (T0, pre-intervention); during the 10-minute intervention (T1); immediately after surgery in the postoperative recovery period (T2)]
Subjective Anxiety: State Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S)
Time Frame: Baseline (T0, pre-intervention); immediately after surgery in the postoperative recovery period (T2)]
Subjective anxiety will be assessed using the State Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S; score range: 20-80). Higher scores indicate higher levels of anxiety. Measurements will be recorded at baseline (T0, pre-intervention) and immediately after surgery in the postoperative recovery period (T2).
Baseline (T0, pre-intervention); immediately after surgery in the postoperative recovery period (T2)]
Subjective Anxiety: Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS)
Time Frame: Baseline (T0, pre-intervention)
Subjective anxiety will be assessed using the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS; score range: 6-30). Higher scores indicate higher levels of anxiety. Measurements will be recorded at baseline (T0, pre-intervention).
Baseline (T0, pre-intervention)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
Time Frame: Baseline (T0, pre-intervention) and during the 10-minute intervention (T1)
Heart rate variability (HRV) will be recorded using a wrist-worn physiological monitor (Heart Rhythm Master). HRV parameters will include time-domain and frequency-domain indices.
Baseline (T0, pre-intervention) and during the 10-minute intervention (T1)
Systolic Blood Pressure
Time Frame: Baseline (T0, pre-intervention) and during the 10-minute intervention (T1)
Systolic blood pressure will be recorded using a wrist-worn physiological monitor (Heart Rhythm Master).
Baseline (T0, pre-intervention) and during the 10-minute intervention (T1)
Diastolic Blood Pressure
Time Frame: Baseline (T0, pre-intervention) and during the 10-minute intervention (T1)
Diastolic blood pressure will be recorded using a wrist-worn physiological monitor (Heart Rhythm Master).
Baseline (T0, pre-intervention) and during the 10-minute intervention (T1)
Heart Rate
Time Frame: Baseline (T0, pre-intervention) and during the 10-minute intervention (T1)
Heart rate will be recorded using a wrist-worn physiological monitor (Heart Rhythm Master).
Baseline (T0, pre-intervention) and during the 10-minute intervention (T1)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Da-Yeh University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
February 23, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 30, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
February 23, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 12, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
March 17, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
March 17, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 12, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 115011

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data (IPD) will not be shared

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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