Interactive music tablet eases anxiety in children before surgery

A randomized trial found the largest reductions among younger children and those who were most anxious to begin with.

Editorial illustration — not from the study.

Researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial involving 80 children and their caregivers at one medical center. Children were assigned either to use the MuMa interactive music tablet before surgery or to receive standard care.

The tablet reduced children’s preoperative anxiety by 38% compared with standard care. The researchers reported no clinically relevant differences in the trial’s secondary outcomes, which included heart-rate variability, cooperation during anesthesia induction, postoperative agitation and later behavioral changes.

How the tablet affected anxiety

Children who used the interactive music tablet had a 38% reduction in preoperative anxiety compared with those receiving standard care, with a standardized mean difference of -0.8 and a 95% confidence interval from -1.2 to -0.3. The effect was larger among children with high anxiety at the start of the study, with a standardized mean difference of -1.7, and among children aged 3 to 6, with a standardized mean difference of -0.9. No clinically relevant differences were observed for the secondary outcomes measured in the study.

Why the approach could help

Anxiety before medical procedures can contribute to difficult behavior, reduced cooperation and greater stress for children and their caregivers. The findings suggest that an interactive music activity could be added to routine care before pediatric surgery, particularly for younger children and those who are already highly anxious. The researchers describe the intervention as requiring few resources and being straightforward to incorporate into perioperative workflows.

Evidence and remaining questions

This was a randomized controlled trial of 80 children undergoing elective surgery at a single center, with standard care as the comparison. The study directly supports a reduction in preoperative anxiety in this setting, but its findings may not apply to all hospitals, procedures or patient groups. The researchers say further work is needed to assess whether the results generalize across diverse settings. The trial also found no clinically relevant differences in the measured secondary outcomes.

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