The Effect of Listening to Music During Mobilization on Pain and Fear in Children Undergoing Abdominal Surgery

January 6, 2026 updated by: Atiye Karakul, Tarsus University

This research is designed to improve the mobilization process in children aged 4-6 years undergoing abdominal surgery. The main objective of the study is to determine the effect of music listening on pain and fear levels in children who are standing up for the first time after surgery using a randomized controlled experimental method. This study, to be conducted at the Pediatric Surgery Department of Aksaray Training and Research Hospital, will involve a total of 74 children (37 in the study group and 37 in the control group) between January 2026 and November 2026.

According to the research protocol, children in the study group will listen to music of their own choosing during mobilization, while children in the control group will receive routine parental support from the clinic. During the data collection process, children's pain levels will be recorded using the Wong-Baker Pain Scale, and their fear levels using the Child Fear Scale, along with assessments from the child, parent, and nurse. Vital signs such as heart rate and respiratory rate will also be monitored before and after the procedure. This study aims to facilitate early mobilization in children and provide evidence as an effective non-pharmacological method in nursing care.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This randomized controlled experimental study aims to investigate the impact of music intervention on the pain and fear levels of children during the postoperative mobilization. Mobilization is a critical part of recovery, but it is often delayed in pediatric patients due to factors such as age, anxiety, fear, and pain. The study is designed to provide evidence for nurses on the use of non-pharmacological methods to facilitate early mobilization and improve the quality of surgical care.The research will be conducted at the Aksaray Training and Research Hospital Pediatric Surgery Department between January 2026 and November 2026. The study population consists of 74 children aged 4-6 who have undergone abdominal surgery. Participants will be randomly and equally divided into two groups: a study group (n=37) and a control group (n=37) using a computer-generated randomization program. Inclusion criteria require that the children be undergoing their first postoperative mobilization, have received only a single dose of paracetamol, and have no chronic illnesses or sensory impairments.The methodology involves assessing both groups before and after the mobilization process. Prior to mobilization, the baseline vital signs (heart rate, respiration, etc.) and pain and fear levels of all children will be evaluated by the child, their parents, and a nurse. During the mobilization, the study group will listen to music of their own choice through headphones, while the control group will receive standard clinical care with parental support. Immediately after the child returns to bed, the evaluations and vital sign recordings will be repeated to measure the intervention's effect.To ensure rigorous data collection, the researchers will use the Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale, the Children's Fear Scale (CFS), and a Vital Signs Tracking Form. Statistical analysis will be performed using SPSS 25.0, utilizing tests such as independent t-tests, Mann-Whitney U, and Chi-square to determine the significance of the results (p < .05). The study anticipates that the music intervention will significantly lower pain and fear scores, supporting the hypothesis that music is an effective supportive tool in pediatric surgical nursing.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

74

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

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

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Being between 4-6 years old
  • Having undergone abdominal surgery
  • Having undergone surgery under general anesthesia
  • Having received a single dose of analgesic (paracetamol) after surgery
  • Having undergone initial mobilization after surgery
  • Being a volunteer to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Having undergone previous surgery
  • Having a chronic illness
  • A parent having undergone abdominal surgery
  • The child having visual, hearing, physical, or intellectual disabilities

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: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: music
Children in this group will be played their preferred and favorite music immediately before the mobilization process begins. The music will continue uninterrupted throughout the mobilization process and will end when the child returns to their bed after mobilization.
Other: music
Children in this group will be introduced to music of their choice and preference immediately before the mobilization begins.
No Intervention: control
Children in this group will not receive any musical entertainment; instead, mobilization will be carried out in accordance with the clinic's existing routine procedures, with parental support.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The Wong-Baker Scale
Time Frame: 1 day
The Wong-Baker Scale was developed by Donna Wong and Connie Morain Baker in 1981 and revised in 1983 to assess children's pain levels. It features six facial expressions scored from zero to five. The Wong-Baker Scale includes faces representing increasing pain intensity from zero to five, from left to right.
1 day
Fear Scale
Time Frame: 1 day
Developed by McMurtry et al. in 2011, it is a scale used to determine the anxiety/fear levels of children. The scale uses five picture faces. Fear level is evaluated with numbers between '0' and '4'. The first picture represents a score of '0', meaning 'no fear felt', and the fifth picture represents a score of '4', meaning 'severe fear'. As the score increases, the level of fear also increases (McMurtry et al., 2011; 780-788; Gerçeker et al., 2018:9-13). The translation and reliability study of the Child Fear Scale into Turkish was carried out by Özalp Gerçeker and colleagues in 2017.
1 day

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Tarsus University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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 (Actual)

January 6, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

November 30, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 6, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 6, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

January 15, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 15, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 6, 2026

Last Verified

January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 22102025

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

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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