Art in the Hospital: Its Impact on the Feelings and Emotional State of Patients Admitted to an Internal Medicine Unit

Objective: This descriptive pilot study aimed at assessing the impact of art contemplation on patients' adaptation to hospital confinement and the factors influencing this effect. Study design: Artistic photographs were hung on the walls of the ward. Two hundred and thirty-nine (239) consecutive non-bed-constrained patients who stayed in the ward for at least 3 days (original number enrolled in study were males/females: 148/96, age 19–89 years; 5 patients declined to fill out questionnaires) participated in the study. Methods: Patients compiled two questionnaires exploring physical, psychologic, and social/family well-being, relative/friend support, and ward functioning. The self-perceived effect of photographs on the hospitalization distress was assessed. Clinical conditions were evaluated with the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status. Results: Ninety-seven (97) (40.6%) patients belonged to ECOG stage 0, 101 (42.3%) to stage 1, 37 (15.5%) to stage 2, and 4 (1.7%) to stage 3. Two hundred and thirty-nine patients (239) (92%) looked at and 232 (85.5%) repeatedly contemplated the photographs. For most patients (72%), photographs made their stay in the hospital more pleasant. The ECOG performance status and self-perceived anxiety were the only independent modulators of the probability to obtain a restorative effect from the photographs. Conclusions: Embellishing clinical spaces with photographs has a positive effect on the adaptation to hospitalization in most patients. This effect is influenced by the patients' clinical status and self-perceived anxiety.