Trends In Music Preferences Of Patients Undergoing Routine Awake Cataract Surgery

Previous work has established the positive value of music in operating theatres. It both subjectively and objectively reduces patient anxiety, regardless of the style of music. Furthermore, some studies show that when patients make direct requests, there is an added benefit of facilitating a perception of control within the operating environment. The purpose of this study is to elucidate how many patients will make direct requests during routine cataract surgery, and which choices the majority of patients make.

The Wye Clinic in Hereford, UK, between May 2022 and January 2023.  

This prospective longitudinal ecologic study used a simple spreadsheet to collect basic demographic data for all patients undergoing routine cataract surgery under local anaesthesia. Patients were asked “what music would you like to listen to?” immediately prior to surgery, and preferences were categorised into ‘specific genre’, ‘specific era’, ‘other specific request’, ‘surgeon’s preference’ and ‘wanted no music’. Two professional composer-musicians (romantic-modern, and jazz) were consulted to aid with categorising genres. The resulting data was analysed using R.

Data was collected from 272 surgeries. Patients were 34 to 94 years old (mean of 74.9). 43.0% requested a particular song or artist. 31.6% requested a specific genre, of which classical and jazz were the most common. 14% made vague requests, such as “easy listening”. 6.3% wanted the surgeon’s preference. 2.6% requested era-specific music.

Overall, 97.4% did want music. Given music’s shown benefits for patients during awake surgery, it should be offered where possible. This study shows that most patients undergoing routine cataract surgery will make a specific request if given the choice to, and only a minority will opt for the surgeon’s preference. Where patients do request the surgeon’s preference, the expanded results of this study can help cataract surgeons make an informed choice on what is likely to be an optimised choice for reducing patient anxiety.