Improving the Patient Experience During Care in the Orthopedic Cast Room
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-27-2023
Publication Title
Orthopedics
Abstract
Patients regularly have casts, splints, and wounds that require attention in the clinic. Patients commonly experience anxiety and pain during such visits. We hypothesized that aromatherapy and music would improve these patients' pain and anxiety when compared with no exposure. Patients in the orthopedic cast room were randomly exposed to no experience, music, or aromatherapy. Postprocedural surveys using an abbreviated form of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (5 items; 4-point Likert scale) and a visual analog scale (0 to 10) were used to collect patient perceptions that were then compared using Spearman rank correlation calculations, t tests, and ordinal regression. Correlation results for the anxiety inventory were not different for patients with music or aromatherapy exposure vs no exposure; however, lower anxiety inventory scores were correlated with lower pain scores for upset, frightened, nervous, and confused measures. Mean reported pain scores were statistically lower for patients exposed to music (3.0) or aromatherapy (3.9) compared with patients who had no exposure (5.1; P=.004). These results support our hypothesis that exposure to music or aromatherapy improves pain. Although neither music nor aromatherapy resulted in significantly lower scores on the anxiety inventory items, the attention to patients' pain could have an indirect effect on their anxiety.
First Page
e90
Last Page
e92
PubMed ID
37757749
Volume
47
Issue
2
Recommended Citation
Gibson III, Jerry and Rivera, Jessica C., "Improving the Patient Experience During Care in the Orthopedic Cast Room" (2023). School of Medicine Faculty Publications. 3086.
https://digitalscholar.lsuhsc.edu/som_facpubs/3086
10.3928/01477447-20230922-06