Findings, methods and sources
Adjacent evidenceObservational / experimentalReported benefit
Finding. A retrospective comparison of 23 matched patient pairs associated a tree view with shorter recovery and less strong analgesic use.
Limitation. Nature exposure; a small observational study, not an artwork intervention.
Methods and verification
Verification level: Abstract checked
Structured summary
- Population
- Adults recovering from cholecystectomy in a suburban Pennsylvania hospital, 1972–1981
- Sample
- 46 patients: 23 matched pairs
- Exposure
- Room window with a view of trees
- Comparator
- Similar rooms with a window facing a brick wall
- Outcome measures
- Postoperative length of stay, nurses’ notes, analgesic use (from records)
- Timing
- Retrospective records of the postoperative stay
- Result
- Shorter postoperative stays, fewer negative evaluative comments in nurses’ notes and fewer potent analgesics with the tree view
- Uncertainty
- Small observational matched comparison; no randomisation
- Design
- Retrospective matched-pair records review
- Sample / scope
- 46 patients (23 matched pairs)
- Setting
- Inpatient room
- Art form
- Window view (nature)
Citation and abstract checked against PubMed, 29 September 2026
Last full editorial audit: 2026-09-09 · Verification policy
Publications and overlap
No confirmed shared-publication match is recorded for this entry in Edition 4.11. Source-by-source and participant-level reconciliation is incomplete; this does not establish an independent study.