TikTok browsing for anxiety relief in the preoperative period: A randomized clinical trial

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of browsing TikTok for 20 min on patients' preoperative anxiety. Method: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at the Department of Anesthesiology of The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine from January 2021 to March 2021. The 80 patients were randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group browsed TikTok for 20 min, but the control group did not. Preoperative anxiety was measured with the help of the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS) and anxiety visual analog test (AVAT). Preoperative anxiety, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and heart rate (HR) were checked before and after 20 min of TikTok browsing. Patient satisfaction with anesthesia was evaluated as the patient entered and exited the operating room. Results: The pretest APAIS scores, AVAT scores, vital signs and patient satisfaction were similar in both groups (p > 0.05). Compared with the control group, patient anxiety levels and systolic blood pressure decreased significantly after 20 min of TikTok browsing (p < 0.05), and patient satisfaction with anesthesia was significantly higher (p < 0.05). In the experimental group, after patients browsed TikTok for 20 min, all of the physiological and behavioral variables of anxiety were significantly reduced (p < 0.05). Conclusions: TikTok is a popular, simple, effective, noninvasive and inexpensive method for decreasing preoperative anxiety, and browsing TikTok can lower a patient's blood pressure and heart rate to some extent.

Automated summary

This study confirmed through a randomized controlled trial that browsing TikTok before surgery can significantly reduce patients' preoperative anxiety levels and systolic blood pressure, while significantly increasing patient satisfaction with anesthesia.