THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL-EFFECTS OF VIBROTACTILE STIMULATION, VIA A SOMATRON, ON PATIENTS AWAITING SCHEDULED GYNECOLOGICAL SURGERY

This study investigated the effects of vibrotactile stimulation via a Somatron mattress on patients awaiting scheduled gynecological surgery . Thirty-nine women admitted to a local regional medical center betwee n the ages of 19 and 65 years served as subjects for the investigation . Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups and received either a vibrotactile (VT) music only (M), ora nonintervention control (Cl whilst in the surgical holding area. Pre and post self-reported l evels of apprehension, along with select physiological data were recor ded. Additional information regarding the specifics of the surgical pr ocedure and patient recovery were also collected and analyzed. Statist ical analysis utilizing one way analyses of variance (p < .05) reveale d that VT subjects demonstrated significantly less postintervention ap prehension than the experimental control; VT and M subjects spent sign ificantly less time in surgery and in the postanesthesia care unit, th an C subjects, and the VT and M groups were also found to receive sign ificantly less postoperative medication than the C group. No significa nt differences were observed with regard to pre and postintervention p hysiological data, although VT and M subjects revealed a tendency for a reduction in pulse rate following the interventions. VT subjects wer e also found to consistently demonstrate the least fluctuation in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure throughout the surgical experie nce. If was concluded that both the VT and M interventions appeared to be beneficial to subjects in a preoperative setting although the two appeared not to differ significantly from each other on any measure ap art from the self-report data.