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Updated: May 19, 2026
Clinical Practice Protocol of Creative Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Published on: January 7, 2020
Music therapy research in the NICU: an updated meta-analysis
1College of Music, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, 32306-1180, USA. jstandley@fsu.edu
Purpose:
To provide an overview of developmental and medical benefits of music therapy for preterm infants.
Design:
Meta-analysis.
Sample:
Empirical music studies with preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Main Outcome:
Evidence-based NICU music therapy (NICU -MT ) was highly beneficial with an overall large significant effect size (Cohen's d = 0.82). Effects because of music were consistently in a positive direction.
Results:
Results of the current analysis replicated findings of a prior meta-analysis and included extended use of music.(1) Benefits were greatest for live music therapy (MT ) and for use early in the infant's NICU stay (birth weight <1,000 g, birth postmenstrual age <28 weeks). Results justify strong consideration for the inclusion of the following evidence-based NICU -MT protocols in best practice standards for NICU treatment of preterm infants: music listening for pacification, music reinforcement of sucking, and music pacification as the basis for multilayered, multimodal stimulation.
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