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 consecutive non-in bed-constrained patients who stayed in the ward for at least three days (males/females: 148/96, age 19-89 years) participated in the study. Methods. Patients compiled two questionnaires exploring physical, psychological 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 ECOG performance status. Results. Ninety-seven (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 (92%) looked at and 232 (85.5%) repeatedly contemplated the photographs. For most patients (72%) photographs made their stay in 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 patients’ clinical status and self-perceived anxiety.