Binaural beat stimulation as a tool to reduce preoperative anxiety in patients undergoing elective surgery and general anesthesia - results from a randomized controlled trial.
Ostertag J, Zinn S, Georgii MT, Niederle MB, Pinto Campos C, Schneider G, Hayden O, Kratzer S, Kreuzer M. · Biomedical physics & engineering express · 2025 · Randomized controlled trial
Original publication · Original publication
Recorded summary
Preoperative binaural-beat stimulation produced a greater reduction in reported state anxiety than the control condition. The reported difference in relative anxiety change was approximately six percentage points.
Recorded limitations
The authors identified music and relaxation as plausible contributors. Alpha power did not differ between groups; the trial does not isolate a beat-specific mechanism.
Evidence and provenance
Chapter Trust Factor uses a minimum of three distinct qualifying studies. Publication records retain their own evidence and assessment.
Study design and assessment
- design
- Randomized controlled trial
- assessment
- category
- peer-reviewed
- peer Reviewed
- true
- basis
- Reported design checked against the primary publication abstract. Blinding terminology reflects the source report, not an independent risk-of-bias rating.
- sources
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40795897/ · https://doi.org/10.1088/2057-1976/adfa9d
- assessed At
- 2026-10-26
- registered Masking Basis
- false
- trust Factor
- score
- 2
- scope
- Paper
- status
- assessed
- randomized Controlled Trial
- true
- blinding
- not-confirmed
- peer Reviewed
- true
- basis
- Reported design checked against the primary publication abstract. Blinding terminology reflects the source report, not an independent risk-of-bias rating.
- sources
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40795897/ · https://doi.org/10.1088/2057-1976/adfa9d
- review Scope
- Existing publication-specific assessments and bibliographic indexing; no blanket full-text appraisal.
- assessed At
- 2026-10-27
- jadad
- status
- unassessed
- score
- Not recorded
- evidence
- intervention
- Binaural-beat music before surgery
- comparator
- Control without binaural stimulation
- evidence Type
- Clinical or experimental outcomes
- source URLs
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40795897/ · https://doi.org/10.1088/2057-1976/adfa9d
- checked At
- 2026-10-26
- review Scope
- Primary publication abstract and bibliographic identity checked; comprehensive full-text risk-of-bias and Jadad assessment pending.
- discovery Sources
https://daytab.com/study/phf6vhrm · https://europepmc.org/article/MED/40795897
- selection Policy
- Success-focused discovery selection, with material limitations retained; not an exhaustive systematic review.
Topics and recorded topic scores
- key
- sound:i
- title
- Brain entrainment, pain, anxiety and heart-rate variability
- collection
- sound
- trust Score
- 3
Citation snapshot and identifiers
- id
- pmid-40795897
- doi
- 10.1088/2057-1976/adfa9d
- pmid
- 40795897
- citation Snapshot
- count
- 0
- source
- Europe PMC
- retrieved At
- 2026-10-26
- url
- https://europepmc.org/article/MED/40795897
- citations By Collection
- sound
- 0
Complete approved library record
- id
- pmid-40795897
- publication Key
- doi:10.1088/2057-1976/adfa9d
- aliases
- None recorded
- title
- Binaural beat stimulation as a tool to reduce preoperative anxiety in patients undergoing elective surgery and general anesthesia - results from a randomized controlled trial.
- journal
- Biomedical physics & engineering express
- neurotransmitters
- None recorded
- year
- 2025
- authors
- Ostertag J, Zinn S, Georgii MT, Niederle MB, Pinto Campos C, Schneider G, Hayden O, Kratzer S, Kreuzer M.
- design
- Randomized controlled trial
- identity Conflict
- Not recorded
- doi
- 10.1088/2057-1976/adfa9d
- pmid
- 40795897
- urls
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40795897/ · https://doi.org/10.1088/2057-1976/adfa9d
- collections
sound
- categories
Clinical & self-report
- targets
- None recorded
- priority
- 1
- quotes
- None recorded
- summary
- Preoperative binaural-beat stimulation produced a greater reduction in reported state anxiety than the control condition. The reported difference in relative anxiety change was approximately six percentage points.
- limitation
- The authors identified music and relaxation as plausible contributors. Alpha power did not differ between groups; the trial does not isolate a beat-specific mechanism.
- citation Count
- 0
- citation Snapshot
- count
- 0
- source
- Europe PMC
- retrieved At
- 2026-10-26
- url
- https://europepmc.org/article/MED/40795897
- study Design Assessment
- category
- peer-reviewed
- peer Reviewed
- true
- basis
- Reported design checked against the primary publication abstract. Blinding terminology reflects the source report, not an independent risk-of-bias rating.
- sources
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40795897/ · https://doi.org/10.1088/2057-1976/adfa9d
- assessed At
- 2026-10-26
- registered Masking Basis
- false
- paper Trust Assessment
- score
- 2
- scope
- Paper
- status
- assessed
- randomized Controlled Trial
- true
- blinding
- not-confirmed
- peer Reviewed
- true
- basis
- Reported design checked against the primary publication abstract. Blinding terminology reflects the source report, not an independent risk-of-bias rating.
- sources
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40795897/ · https://doi.org/10.1088/2057-1976/adfa9d
- review Scope
- Existing publication-specific assessments and bibliographic indexing; no blanket full-text appraisal.
- assessed At
- 2026-10-27
- citations By Collection
- sound
- 0
- topics
- key
- sound:i
- title
- Brain entrainment, pain, anxiety and heart-rate variability
- collection
- sound
- trust Score
- 3
- journal Key
- biomedicalphysicsandengineeringexpress
- journal Label
- Biomedical physics & engineering express
- chapter Entries
- title
- Binaural beat stimulation as a tool to reduce preoperative anxiety in patients undergoing elective surgery and general anesthesia - results from a randomized controlled trial.
- journal
- Biomedical physics & engineering express
- year
- 2025
- authors
- Ostertag J, Zinn S, Georgii MT, Niederle MB, Pinto Campos C, Schneider G, Hayden O, Kratzer S, Kreuzer M.
- design
- Randomized controlled trial
- urls
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40795897/ · https://doi.org/10.1088/2057-1976/adfa9d
- doi
- 10.1088/2057-1976/adfa9d
- pmid
- 40795897
- targets
- None recorded
- categories
Clinical & self-report
- citation Count
- 0
- citation Snapshot
- count
- 0
- source
- Europe PMC
- retrieved At
- 2026-10-26
- url
- https://europepmc.org/article/MED/40795897
- study Design Assessment
- category
- peer-reviewed
- peer Reviewed
- true
- basis
- Reported design checked against the primary publication abstract. Blinding terminology reflects the source report, not an independent risk-of-bias rating.
- sources
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40795897/ · https://doi.org/10.1088/2057-1976/adfa9d
- assessed At
- 2026-10-26
- registered Masking Basis
- false
- evidence
- intervention
- Binaural-beat music before surgery
- comparator
- Control without binaural stimulation
- evidence Type
- Clinical or experimental outcomes
- source URLs
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40795897/ · https://doi.org/10.1088/2057-1976/adfa9d
- checked At
- 2026-10-26
- review Scope
- Primary publication abstract and bibliographic identity checked; comprehensive full-text risk-of-bias and Jadad assessment pending.
- discovery Sources
https://daytab.com/study/phf6vhrm · https://europepmc.org/article/MED/40795897
- selection Policy
- Success-focused discovery selection, with material limitations retained; not an exhaustive systematic review.
- id
- sound-i-pmid-40795897
- record Id
- pmid-40795897
- quotes
- None recorded
- source Pages
- None recorded
- summary
- Preoperative binaural-beat stimulation produced a greater reduction in reported state anxiety than the control condition. The reported difference in relative anxiety change was approximately six percentage points.
- limitation
- The authors identified music and relaxation as plausible contributors. Alpha power did not differ between groups; the trial does not isolate a beat-specific mechanism.
- paper Trust Assessment
- score
- 2
- scope
- Paper
- status
- assessed
- randomized Controlled Trial
- true
- blinding
- not-confirmed
- peer Reviewed
- true
- basis
- Reported design checked against the primary publication abstract. Blinding terminology reflects the source report, not an independent risk-of-bias rating.
- sources
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40795897/ · https://doi.org/10.1088/2057-1976/adfa9d
- review Scope
- Existing publication-specific assessments and bibliographic indexing; no blanket full-text appraisal.
- assessed At
- 2026-10-27
- publication Key
- doi:10.1088/2057-1976/adfa9d
- collection
- sound
- chapter Number
- 1
- topic Id
- i
- topic Title
- Brain entrainment, pain, anxiety and heart-rate variability
- trust Score
- 3
- evidence
- intervention
- Binaural-beat music before surgery
- comparator
- Control without binaural stimulation
- evidence Type
- Clinical or experimental outcomes
- source URLs
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40795897/ · https://doi.org/10.1088/2057-1976/adfa9d
- checked At
- 2026-10-26
- review Scope
- Primary publication abstract and bibliographic identity checked; comprehensive full-text risk-of-bias and Jadad assessment pending.
- discovery Sources
https://daytab.com/study/phf6vhrm · https://europepmc.org/article/MED/40795897
- selection Policy
- Success-focused discovery selection, with material limitations retained; not an exhaustive systematic review.
- jadad
- status
- unassessed
- score
- Not recorded
- condition Evidence
- id
- anxiety
- evidence
- field
- curated primary-source summary
- text
- Preoperative binaural-beat stimulation produced a greater reduction in reported state anxiety than the control condition. The reported difference in relative anxiety change was approximately six percentage points.
- matched Text
- anxiety
- conditions
anxiety
- topic Trust Scores
3
- full Text
- status
- not-indexed
- retrieval Available
- false