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Anxiety

Effect of Emotional Freedom Technique applied to patients before laparoscopic cholecystectomy on surgical fear and anxiety: A randomized controlled trial

Menevşe, Ş., Yayla, A. · Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing · 2023

Randomized trial👥 112 participants⚖️ vs. routine treatment practicesHigher rigor✓ Source-checked📍 Turkey
In plain English. Just over 100 patients awaiting gallbladder removal surgery in Turkey either got EFT before the procedure or standard preoperative care. The tapping group reported far less surgical fear and anxiety, with their felt-distress ratings cut roughly in half. This is a solid randomized trial in a real clinical, pre-surgical setting.

What they found

112
people took part

The EFT group's post-test scores on the Surgical Fear Questionnaire, Anxiety Specific to Surgery Questionnaire, and SUD were significantly lower than the control group (P < .001), with SUD scores reduced by 54.4%.

How the study worked

Who took partpatients awaiting laparoscopic gallbladder removal surgery (n=112)
What they didIn a randomized controlled trial, participants were randomly assigned to receive tapping or a comparison condition, then measured and compared.
Compared withroutine treatment practices
Measured withSurgical Fear Questionnaire, Anxiety Specific to Surgery Questionnaire, Subjective Units of Disturbance (SUD)

💡 Where this could help

Think of anyone lying on a gurney before surgery, heart racing, with a nurse who has five other patients to see and no time for reassurance. If this finding generalizes, it points toward a few minutes of tapping — taught once and then done by the patient themselves — becoming a standard, low-cost addition to pre-op checklists in busy hospitals worldwide, without demanding more of already-stretched staff.

🔬 What to study next

The compelling next step is checking whether the calmer pre-op state shows up in the body, not just on the fear questionnaire — blood pressure, heart rate, or cortisol right before anesthesia induction, along with anesthesia or analgesic dosing requirements, would show whether less reported fear also means a measurably calmer physiological state heading into surgery. Testing this as a scripted few-minute addition across different surgical types would also clarify how broadly it generalizes beyond gallbladder surgery.

The full record

DesignRandomized trial
Participants112 people
Populationpatients awaiting laparoscopic gallbladder removal surgery
Comparison grouproutine treatment practices
Outcome measuresSurgical Fear Questionnaire, Anxiety Specific to Surgery Questionnaire, Subjective Units of Disturbance (SUD)
JournalJournal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing
Year2023
CountryTurkey
LanguageEnglish
MethodEFT / tapping
Publication typeStudy / trial
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source

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Cite this study

APA

Menevşe, Ş., & Yayla, A. (2023). Effect of Emotional Freedom Technique applied to patients before laparoscopic cholecystectomy on surgical fear and anxiety: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jopan.2023.07.006

This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/tapping. Explore more studies on Anxiety

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THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE Anxiety 112 participants WHAT THEY FOUND The EFT group's post-test scores on theSurgical Fear Questionnaire, AnxietySpecific to Surgery Questionnaire, and… Randomized trial · 112 participants Menevşe · 2023 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com