comparing the effect of holy quran recitation and music on patient anxiety and vital signs before abdominal surgeries

background anxiety in patients scheduled for surgery is a major and high incidence problem that can result in complications during the surgical procedure and the post-surgery period. the purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of music and holy quran recitation on patient anxiety and certain physiological variables before abdominal surgeries. materials & methods the present study is a quasi-experimental single-blind and three-group randomized clinical trial. participants were 90 patients who were scheduled to undergo abdominal surgery in shahid beheshti hospital of kashan university of medical sciences (2009). patients were selected through convenience sampling method and then randomized into three groups. participants in the experimental group one listened to non-vocal music and participants in the experimental group two listened to holy quran recitation for 20 minutes. the control group did not receive any intervention. anxiety was measured by spielberger state trait anxiety inventory (stai) and patient vital signs were measured by mercury monometer and counting of pulse and respiratory rate at patient&apos;s bed before and after the intervention. findings the comparison of the pre- and post-interventional results showed that there was a statistically significant difference on anxiety between the music (p<0.001) and holy quran (p<0.02) groups, and also on blood pressure in both groups (p<0.04 and p<0.03, respectively) and on pulse rate in the holy quran group (p<0.01) but no significant differences were found in the control group. a comparison patient anxiety after intervention showed a significant difference among the three groups (p<0.04) which was between the music and the control groups (p<0.01). in addition, a significant difference was found on mean blood pressure after intervention in three groups (p<0.03) which was between the quran and the control groups (p<0.04). conclusion conclusion: listening to music and the holy quran recitation is a systematic intervention which functions as a complementary treatment for pre operative patients that can result in a decrease in anxiety and physiological responses.