title: Effects of Music Listening on Pre-treatment Anxiety and Stress Levels in a Dental Hygiene Recall Population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Waiting for a medical procedure can exert significant feelings of state anxiety in patients. Music listening has been shown to be effective in decreasing anxiety levels. No study so far examined the potential anxiety and stress-reducing effect of a music intervention on pre-treatment anxiety and stress in patients waiting for dental hygiene treatment. Knowing whether the anxiety-reducing effect of music would also be detectible in the context of preventive routine medical procedures in healthy individuals would widen the area of application of music from the hospital or clinical environment to medical offices in general.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Waiting for a medical treatment can induce anxiety and may lead to the experience of stress. We set out to examine the effect of music on pre-treatment anxiety in a healthy patient sample waiting for a dental treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a randomized controlled clinical trial, 92 consecutive volunteer patients (mean age, 57 years) waiting for their scheduled dental hygiene treatment were randomly allocated to either an experimental (n = 46, listening to music for 10 min) or a control group (n = 46, waiting in silence). State and habitual anxiety, subjective stress, and mood measures were assessed before and after music listening or silence, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  State anxiety levels in the music group decreased significantly after intervention as compared to the control group (F(1/90) = 8.06; p = 0.006). Participants' trait anxiety and dental anxiety were not found to moderate this effect.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Listening to music prior to dental hygiene treatment decreases anxiety levels to a greater extent than waiting in silence.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Zurich, Binzmuehlestrasse 14, Box 1, 8050, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Myriam V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Thoma
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zemp
authors.forename: Lea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kreienbühl
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hofer
authors.forename: Patrick R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Schmidlin
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Attin
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ehlert
authors.forename: Urs M
authors.initials: UM
authors.lastname: Nater
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000628:therapy*; D003729:Dental Care / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009147:Music Therapy / Q000379:methods*