The Tapping Evidence Base
Anxiety

Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Reduces Anxiety among Women Undergoing Surgery

Thomas, R., Cutinho, S., Aranha, D. · Energy Psychology Journal · 2017

Randomized trial👥 50 participants⚖️ vs. treatment as usual (TAU)Moderate rigor✓ Source-checked📍 India
In plain English. Fifty women awaiting gynecological or obstetric surgery in India, all with at least moderate anxiety, either received two short EFT sessions before surgery or standard care alone. The tapping group's anxiety dropped by roughly three-quarters, while the standard-care group's anxiety stayed the same. This is a clean, randomized trial showing a large, statistically decisive effect in a real pre-surgical setting.

What they found

50
people took part

Anxiety scores in the EFT group dropped from 27.28 (± 2.47) to 7.60 (± 2.00), highly statistically significant (p < 0.0001), while the control group showed no change.

How the study worked

Who took partwomen admitted for obstetric and gynecological (OBG) surgeries with moderate to severe anxiety (n=50)
What they didIn a randomized controlled trial, participants were randomly assigned to receive tapping or a comparison condition, then measured and compared.
Compared withtreatment as usual (TAU)
Measured withModified Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale

💡 Where this could help

If two short tapping sessions keep cutting pre-surgical anxiety this dramatically, it could mean patients facing the fear and uncertainty of surgery — especially in busy hospital systems without time or staff for extended counseling — get a fast, low-cost calming technique nurses can teach in minutes before a procedure. Because it's self-administered, that same patient could use it again on their own before any future procedure, without needing a nurse to re-teach it each time.

🔬 What to study next

The dramatic drop in anxiety scores here invites checking whether it shows up in the body too — blood pressure, heart rate, or cortisol at the moment of anesthesia induction, and whether calmer patients need less anesthesia or analgesic medication. Testing whether nurses across many surgical departments can deliver this consistently in just a couple of short sessions would also show how ready it is to scale.

The full record

DesignRandomized trial
Participants50 people
Populationwomen admitted for obstetric and gynecological (OBG) surgeries with moderate to severe anxiety
Comparison grouptreatment as usual (TAU)
Outcome measuresModified Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale
JournalEnergy Psychology Journal
Year2017
CountryIndia
LanguageEnglish
MethodEFT / tapping
Publication typeStudy / trial
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source

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Cite this study

APA

Thomas, R., Cutinho, S., & Aranha, D. (2017). Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Reduces Anxiety among Women Undergoing Surgery. Energy Psychology Journal. https://doi.org/10.9769/EPJ.2017.9.1.RT

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 50 participants WHAT THEY FOUND Anxiety scores in the EFT group dropped from27.28 (± 2.47) to 7.60 (± 2.00), highlystatistically significant (p <… Randomized trial · 50 participants Thomas · 2017 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com