Surgical patients who listen to music and view photographs before operations have lower levels of anxiety that not only boost their odds of survival, but also aid their physical and psychological well-being in recovery.

That’s the upshot of new research that found pre-op patients who listened to music while viewing photos experienced significant benefits related to anxiety, heart and respiratory rates, and blood pressure, compared with those who only viewed photographs.

The findings suggest playing videos with photos and music on televisions in preoperative waiting rooms might be a simple way to improve care at a low cost and without medications or invasive treatments.

"Creating different kinds of music lists and photographs collections, which the patient can choose depending on his preferences, could be an affordable and low risk treatment for preoperative anxiety," said Jose Gomez-Urquiza, lead author of the study, published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing.