The effect of noise-cancelling headphones or music on pain perception and anxiety in men undergoing transrectal prostate biopsy.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the effect of noise-cancelling headphones with or without music on patient pain and anxiety associated with routine, office-based transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided prostate biopsy in a prospective randomized study.


METHODS
Patients scheduled for prostate biopsy as a result of elevated prostate-specific antigen and/or abnormal digital rectal examination were prospectively enrolled and randomized into a control, noise-cancelling headphones, or music-headphones group. Patients completed pain and anxiety questionnaires and had their physiological parameters assessed before and after the procedure and compared across groups.


RESULTS
Eighty-eight patients were enrolled. Pain scores increased from baseline across all study groups, with the lowest mean score in the music group. No appreciable change was noted in anxiety scores after the procedure between groups (P>.05). Although postbiopsy systolic blood pressure values remained comparable with baseline levels in all groups, postbiopsy diastolic blood pressure increased in the control and headphones groups (P=.062 and .088, respectively) but remained stable in the music group (P=.552) after biopsy, indicating lesser physiological response to anxiety and pain in this group.


CONCLUSIONS
Music-induced attention shift during prostate biopsy may have a beneficial impact on procedural anxiety and pain perception, but no apparent effect was noted for use of headphones alone. Further studies are necessary to explore strategies to reduce perceived anxiety and pain in men undergoing prostate biopsy.
Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. matvey.tsivian@duke.edu
Matvey
M
Tsivian
Peter
P
Qi
Masaki
M
Kimura
Valerie H
VH
Chen
Stephanie H
SH
Chen
Tong J
TJ
Gan
Thomas J
TJ
Polascik
D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000523:psychology; D004430:Ear Protective Devices; D019160:Endosonography / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009146:Music; D009147:Music Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D009622:Noise; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D058748:Pain Perception; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen