RESEARCH ARTICLE
The Effects of Comedy Movies on Preoperative Anxiety and Postoperative Pain in Patients Who Have Undergone Abdominal Surgery: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
Gürkan Kapıkıran,
Semra Bülbüloğlu,
Remziye Cici,
Corresponding Author
Gürkan Kapıkıran
Division of Emergency Aid and Disaster Management, Faculty of Health Sciences, Malatya Turgut Ozal University, Malatya, Türkiye
Correspondence:
Gürkan Kapıkıran ([email protected])
Search for more papers by this authorSemra Bülbüloğlu
Division of Surgical Nursing, Nursing Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, Istanbul Aydin University, Istanbul, Türkiye
Search for more papers by this authorRemziye Cici
Division of Surgical Nursing, Nursing Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, Corum Hitit University, Corum, Türkiye
Search for more papers by this authorGürkan Kapıkıran,
Semra Bülbüloğlu,
Remziye Cici,
Corresponding Author
Gürkan Kapıkıran
Division of Emergency Aid and Disaster Management, Faculty of Health Sciences, Malatya Turgut Ozal University, Malatya, Türkiye
Correspondence:
Gürkan Kapıkıran ([email protected])
Search for more papers by this authorSemra Bülbüloğlu
Division of Surgical Nursing, Nursing Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, Istanbul Aydin University, Istanbul, Türkiye
Search for more papers by this authorRemziye Cici
Division of Surgical Nursing, Nursing Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, Corum Hitit University, Corum, Türkiye
Search for more papers by this authorFirst published: 20 July 2025
Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work.
ABSTRACT
This randomized controlled pilot study, which involved 176 patients, aimed to evaluate the impact of comedy films on preoperative anxiety levels and postoperative pain in patients undergoing abdominal surgery, as well as the feasibility of this intervention. While the patients in the control group did not undergo any intervention other than routine clinical interventions, the patients in the experimental group watched a comedy movie for 25 min. The pretest anxiety score of the experimental group was found to be 57.48 ± 6.09, while the posttest anxiety score of the same group decreased to 37.35 ± 8.10 after watching a comedy movie. The difference between their pretest and posttest anxiety mean scores was statistically significant (Cohen's d: 4.20, 95% CI: 27.8124 to 32.4603, p: 0.000). The mean pretest and posttest pain scores of those in the experimental group were 4.99 ± 1.24 and 4.76 ± 1.33, respectively (Cohen's d: 2.72, 95% CI: −24.6459 to −19.7858, p: 0.003). It was concluded that watching a comedy movie, which is an inexpensive and effective method, reduces preoperative anxiety and postoperative pain in patients undergoing abdominal surgery and provides important information necessary for the design of more precise studies in the future.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open Research
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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