The Effect of Jazz on Postoperative Pain and Stress in Patients Undergoing Elective Hysterectomy

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of music on patients after surgery in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU). For many patients, surgery creates significant emotional stress and anxiety which can include discomfort or pain. Music therapy has proven to be a useful adjuvant in various inpatient and outpatient settings by providing a relaxing effect that decreases heart rate, blood pressure, and hormonal measures of stress. It has been shown that classical music can cause physiological and psychological differences in patient outcomes, but few studies have looked specifically at effects of jazz music. Some have argued that jazz may be too involved to provide the same relaxed state as classical music, but this may be due in part to the type of jazz played for the patient. It is our hypothesis that slow jazz music by artists including Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, Dave Brubeck, etc. will reduce measures of stress and anxiety in patients in the PACU following surgery for hysterectomy (laparoscopic or robotic) to a greater extent than the control group. Jazz music or "no music" will be played through headphones to participants in the study post-surgically while they are in the PACU and measures of stress, anxiety, and pain will be monitored.