The Effect of Preoperative Hugging With Family Members on Preoperative Anxiety Levels and Postoperative Pain

January 28, 2026 updated by: Sevgi Kutlusoy, University of Health Sciences Balikesir Hospital Eduation and Research

The aim of this randomized prospective study is to examine the effect of preoperative family hugging (for at least 20 seconds) on preoperative anxiety levels and postoperative pain.

The main question the study aims to answer is:

  • Does preoperative hugging reduce anxiety levels?
  • Does preoperative hugging reduce postoperative pain scores? Anxiety and pain scores will be evaluated between patients who hugged and those who did not hug their family members before surgery, and whether hugging has an effect will be assessed.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

160

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 18-75 years of age
  • ASA 1 and ASA-2 patients

Exclusion Criteria:

  • emergency surgery
  • malignancy surgery
  • neurological and psychiatric illnesses
  • chronic pain
  • substance abuse

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: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Hugging group
Patients will be given the opportunity to hug family members for at least 20 seconds before the surgery.
Behavioral: Patients will be given the opportunity to hug family members for at least 20 seconds before the surgery.
Patients will be given the opportunity to hug family members for at least 20 seconds before the surgery.
Active Comparator: control group
standard practice
Other: The standard anesthesia protocol will be followed
The standard anesthesia protocol will be followed

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Does preoperative hugging reduce anxiety levels?
Time Frame: Preoperative STAI-I and STAI-II anxiety levels of patients will be measured. The relationship between the groups will be evaluated.

Preoperative The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) I and STAI-II anxiety levels of patients will be measured. This scale gives scores between 20 and 80. The significance of these differences between groups will be evaluated.

A higher score indicates a higher anxiety level. The clinically significant score for STAI anxiety level is stated as 39-40.
Preoperative STAI-I and STAI-II anxiety levels of patients will be measured. The relationship between the groups will be evaluated.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Does preoperative hugging reduce postoperative pain scores?
Time Frame: Postoperative NRS pain scores of patients at 30 minutes and 6 hours will be examined. The relationship between the groups will be evaluated.
Postoperative NRS pain scores of patients at 30 minutes and 6 hours will be examined. It usually ranges from 0 to 10; 0 represents "no pain" and 10 represents "the most severe pain imaginable". The relationship between the groups will be evaluated.
Postoperative NRS pain scores of patients at 30 minutes and 6 hours will be examined. The relationship between the groups will be evaluated.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Health Sciences Balikesir Hospital Eduation and Research

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)

July 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

January 30, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

February 28, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 31, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 17, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

January 27, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 30, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 28, 2026

Last Verified

December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • MTÜ-AAD-2025/154

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

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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