Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 29, 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
A randomized-controlled trial pilot study examining the neurodevelopmental effects of a 5-week M Technique
Joan R Smith1, Jacqueline McGrath, Marco Brotto
1Division of Nursing and Newborn Intensive Care, St Louis Children's Hospital, Missouri (Dr Smith); School of Nursing, University of Connecticut, Nursing Research, Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Hartford (Dr McGrath); School of Nursing and Medicine, University of Missouri Kansas City (Dr Brotto); and Department of Pediatric Newborn Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (Dr Inder).
Purpose:
To systematically test the cumulative effect of the M Technique on infant neurodevelopment in hospitalized very preterm infants.
Design:
A pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT).
Subjects:
Twenty very preterm infants (<30 weeks gestation with average birth weights <1000 g) were randomly assigned to nontreatment or treatment groups. The study period began once the infants reached 30 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA).
Methods:
Each infant received standard neonatal intensive unit (NICU) care or standard NICU care plus a 7-minute M Technique session, 6 times per week for 5 weeks. Neurobehavioral development (using the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale [NNNS]) and growth velocity (difference in infant weight at the beginning and end of protocol) were compared between the 2 groups. Physiologic parameters (heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturations) and infant behavioral states were measured 5 minutes before, during, and up to 10 minutes postintervention continuously on all infants in the treatment group at 3 different gestational time points (30, 32, and 34 weeks PMA) over the 5-week period.
Results:
Mann-Whitney U analyses revealed no differences between the 2 groups on all 12 NNNS summary score domains but a difference in growth velocity between the 2 groups (P = 0.005). Repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed significant physiologic differences of mean heart rate, respiratory rate, and SaO2 (F = 41.116, P < 0.0005) and behavioral states (F = 38.564, P < 0.0005) from baseline to 10 minutes after the M Technique intervention across all 3 time points. State scores decreased from baseline (M = 6.11) to post intervention (M = 1.4) at all 3 time points.
Conclusions:
This pilot RCT demonstrates the utility of the M Technique in hospitalized very preterm infants starting at 30 weeks PMA with notable evidence of positive weight, physiological, and behavioral state adaptations. Additional research is needed with a larger, randomized design to determine short- and long-term effects specifically related to neurological outcomes.
