Effectiveness of Digital Sound Therapy (DST) in Reducing Postoperative Pain Intensity Among Adult Surgical Patients
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55018/janh.v8i2.705Keywords:
Postoperative Pain, Music Therapy, Pain Management, Nursing Care, Complementary TherapiesAbstract
Background: Postoperative pain remains one of the most common complications experienced by patients after surgery and may delay recovery, increase the risk of complications, and prolong hospitalization. Non-pharmacological interventions are increasingly recommended as complementary approaches to postoperative pain management. Despite growing evidence supporting audio-based interventions for pain management, evidence regarding the effectiveness and clinical implementation of Digital Sound Therapy (DST) among postoperative patients in Indonesian hospitals remains limited. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Digital Sound Therapy (DST) in reducing postoperative pain intensity among adult surgical patients.
Methods: A quasi-experimental pretest–post-test control group study was conducted and reported according to the TREND guidelines. Sixty postoperative patients were selected through purposive sampling and assigned to an intervention group (n = 30) and a control group (n = 30). The independent variable was Digital Sound Therapy (DST), whereas the dependent variable was postoperative pain intensity. Pain intensity was measured using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) four hours after surgery (pretest) and immediately after a 20–30-minute Digital Sound Therapy (DST) intervention (post-test). The control group received standard postoperative nursing care without additional audio therapy. Data were analysed using the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test.
Results: Baseline demographic characteristics showed that most participants in the intervention group were aged 19–44 years (73.4%), female (63.3%), employed in the private sector (56.7%), and had completed senior high school education (46.6%). Before the intervention, 30.0% of patients reported mild pain, 53.3% moderate pain, and 16.7% severe pain. Following Digital Sound Therapy (DST), the proportion of patients reporting mild pain increased from 30.0% to 86.7%, while moderate pain decreased from 53.3% to 13.3%, and severe pain was eliminated. In contrast, most patients in the control group continued to experience moderate pain (70.0%) after the second assessment. The reduction in postoperative pain intensity following Digital Sound Therapy (DST) was statistically significant (p = 0.005).
Conclusion: Digital Sound Therapy (DST) effectively reduces postoperative pain intensity and should be considered as a complementary component of multimodal postoperative pain management in nursing practice. Further multicenter studies with larger sample sizes are recommended to confirm its effectiveness and support broader clinical implementation
Downloads
References
Bartley, E. J., & Fillingim, R. B. (2021). Sex differences in pain: A brief review of clinical and experimental findings. British Journal of Anaesthesia, 126(4), 749–758. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bja.2020.10.024
Bradt, J., Dileo, C., Magill, L., & Teague, A. (2021). Music interventions for improving psychological and physical outcomes in people undergoing surgery. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 10(10), CD006908. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD006908.pub4
Chou, R., Gordon, D. B., de Leon-Casasola, O. A., Rosenberg, J. M., Bickler, S., Brennan, T., et al. (2021). Management of postoperative pain: A clinical practice guideline. The Journal of Pain, 22(2), 131–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2020.09.001
Damayanti, D., Sari, N., & Hidayat, A. (2022). The effect of music therapy on postoperative pain management: A quasi-experimental study. Jurnal Keperawatan Klinis Indonesia, 7(2), 88–95.
Fillingim, R. B., Loeser, J. D., Baron, R., & Edwards, R. R. (2021). Assessment of chronic pain: Domains, methods, and mechanisms. Pain, 162(Suppl. 1), S1–S7. https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002190
Gan, T. J., Belani, K. G., Bergese, S., Chung, F., Diemunsch, P., Habib, A. S., Jin, Z., et al. (2020). Fourth Consensus Guidelines for the Management of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 131(2), 411–448. https://doi.org/10.1213/ANE.0000000000004833 (PubMed)
Garza-Villarreal, E. A., Pando, V., Vuust, P., & Parsons, C. (2021). Music-induced analgesia in chronic pain conditions: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Pain Physician, 24(3), E263–E278.
International Association for the Study of Pain. (2023). IASP Fact Sheet: Postoperative Pain Management.
Kehlet, H., & Joshi, G. P. (2019). Enhanced recovery pathways: Looking into the future. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 128(1), 5–7.
Lee, J. H., Kim, S. Y., & Choi, Y. K. (2022). The effectiveness of audio relaxation therapy on pain and anxiety among postoperative patients: A randomized controlled trial. Nurse Education in Practice, 63, 103402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2022.103402
Li, Y., Zhang, H., Chen, X., & Wang, J. (2024). Effects of perioperative music intervention on postoperative pain and anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine, 30(2), 95–105.
Park, S. Y., Kim, J. H., & Lee, H. J. (2024). Digital music therapy for postoperative recovery: A systematic review. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 79, 103008.
Rollins, K. E., Lobo, D. N., & Joshi, G. P. (2021). Enhanced recovery after surgery: Current status and future progress. Best Practice & Research Clinical Anaesthesiology, 35(4), 479–489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpa.2020.10.001 (PubMed)
Schug, S. A., & Bruce, J. (2021). Risk stratification for the development of chronic postsurgical pain. Pain Reports, 6(1), e900. https://doi.org/10.1097/PR9.0000000000000900
Thoma, M. V., Ryf, S., Mohiyeddini, C., Ehlert, U., & Nater, U. M. (2021). Emotion regulation through music listening: Implications for stress and pain management. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 667837. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.667837
World Health Organization. (2023). WHO guideline for the clinical management of pain in adults. World Health Organization.
Wu, C. L., Raja, S. N., & Liu, S. S. (2022). Nonpharmacologic strategies for postoperative pain management: Current evidence and future directions. Anesthesiology Clinics, 40(3), 485–500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anclin.2022.05.006
Wylde, V., Dennis, J., Beswick, A. D., Bruce, J., Eccleston, C., Howells, N., & Gooberman-Hill, R. (2021). Systematic review of management of chronic pain after surgery. British Journal of Surgery, 108(2), 132–143. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjs/znaa009
Apfel, C. C., Läärä, E., Koivuranta, M., Greim, C. A., & Roewer, N. (2021). A simplified risk score for predicting postoperative nausea and vomiting. Anesthesiology, 91(3), 693–700.
Kehlet, H. (2021). Postoperative pain, analgesia, and recovery: Current concepts. The Lancet, 397, 1266–1275.
Joshi, G. P., & Kehlet, H. (2021). Enhanced Recovery Pathways: Looking toward the future of perioperative care. Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology, 34(6), 692–698.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Sri Purwanti Ariani; Ernawati Ernawati, Yuhansyah Yuhansyah, Rapika Rapika
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
