Effect of nature-based sound therapy on stress and physiological parameters in patients with myocardial infarction

Background: Non-pharmacological interventions in clinical practice, such as Nature-Based Sounds (N-BS), can be an efficient way to reduce stress in patients with Myocardial Infarction (MI). This study was an attempt to investigate the effect of N-BS on stress and physiological parameters in patients with MI. Materials and Methods: This double-blind, randomized clinical trial was conducted on 80 patients with MI from two selected hospitals. Using headphones, the subjects in the intervention group listened to 30 minutes of N-BS twice a day for 3 days. The control group, on the other hand, wore headphones playing no sound. The data were collected using the Persian version of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale. The significance level was set at 0.05. Results: The repeated measure analysis showed that the within group effect is statistically significant for Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) (F = 113.32, P < 0.001), Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP) (F = 67.22, P < 0.001), Heart Rate (HR) (F = 28.52, P < 0.001), respiration rate (F = 36.41, P < 0.001), and stress (F = 102.82, P < 0.001). The reciprocal effect was statistically significant for SBP (F = 11.76, P < 0.001) and stress (F = 5.31, P < 0.001). Conclusions: N-BS can provide an effective, inexpensive, and non-invasive method of reducing stress in patients with MI. Nurses can incorporate N-BS intervention into the daily care of patients with MI in order to reduce their stress and lower their SBP and HR.