New research has revealed which song has the most positive impact on patients in a healthcare waiting room.
Practice management company Tebra first analysed 286 playlists on Spotify with ‘waiting room’ or terms associated with healthcare environments in the title. ‘Don’t Stop Believin” by Journey was found to be the most popular waiting room song. The top five songs were:
- ‘Don’t Stop Believin” – Journey
- ‘I’m Like a Bird’ – Nelly Furtado
- ‘Africa’ – TOTO
- ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ – Van Morrison
- ‘Hey, Soul Sister’ – Train.
However, Taylor Swift was by far the most popular artist, occurring 1,418 times. The Beatles, Maroon 5, Ed Sheeran and Fleetwood Mac were also common choices.
Which music genres do patients prefer to hear?
Tebra also surveyed over 1,000 patients in the US about which music they prefer to hear in waiting rooms and which they’d rather avoid. Around one third (31%) said metal was the genre they would least like to hear, with a quarter (26%) wishing to avoid hip-hop/rap.
Half of the respondents said that classical music was the most relaxing to listen to in a healthcare waiting room. However, listening to classical, pop and country music was associated with a longer perceived wait time. Jazz was linked to the shortest perceived wait time and was also seen as the most calming by one third of those surveyed.
Classical, jazz and country music were all highly associated with pain in a medical setting. Country, pop and classical were the most associated with anxiety.
In dental practices specifically, pop was linked with the shortest perceived wait time. However, it was also most associated with anxiety.
Which music genres are associated with high dental attendance?
The research also explored the habits of respondents in relation to their music choice. Around one third (31%) of folk fans said they had been dishonest with a healthcare professional. The figure was much lower for classical fans at 20%.
Over half of country (53%) and classical (52%) fans said they visited a healthcare professional regularly, while 27% of metal fans said they rarely visited. Country fans were also most likely to visit the dentist regularly, but classical music lovers were associated with the lowest level of regular dental attendance.
Fans of country, electronic, indie, folk and punk music were found to be healthiest overall. Those who preferred R&B/soul, jazz, hip-hop/rap, rock and metal were conversely found to be least healthy.
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