title: [Background music in the family physician's surgery: patient reactions].
abstract: Music is a universal language, and its effects on pain relief and stress reduction are well known. We evaluated patients' opinions of the effects of background music in their family doctors' surgery. Low volume, background, classical music was played in the doctors' surgery on 5 consecutive clinic days. All patients were asked to fill a short anonymous questionnaire on leaving. Among the 135 consecutive patients offered the questionnaire, there was 87.4% compliance. Among the 118 who completed the questionnaire, 95% said that the background music did not disturb them, 89% thought it made them feel better and 80% thought that it aided the doctor's performance. We conclude that low volume, background music in the doctors's surgery may contribute to better doctor-patient interaction, although larger studies are needed to confirm our findings.
authors.affiliation: Family Medicine Clinics, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zalewsky
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vinker
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fiada
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Libon
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kitai
mesh_terms: D005194:Family Practice; D006801:Humans; D009146:Music / Q000523:psychology; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires