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Premature Triadic Music Therapy (PT-MT) for babies and their parents: a pilot study
Yura Loscalzo1, Lorenzo Antichi1, Gianni Cipriani2
1Department of Health Sciences, School of Psychology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Insights
Premature Triadic Music Therapy (PT-MT) shows potential in reducing distress for premature infants and their parents. While physiological measures improved during therapy, long-term effects require further investigation with larger sample sizes.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal care
- Music therapy
- Psychological interventions
Background:
- Premature infants experience significant physiological distress.
- Parental distress, including depression, is common in neonatal intensive care units.
- Innovative therapeutic approaches are needed to support both infants and parents.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of Premature Triadic Music Therapy (PT-MT).
- To assess the impact of PT-MT on physiological distress indicators in preterm infants.
- To examine the effect of PT-MT on parental psychological distress.
Main Methods:
- A clinical pre-test-post-test trial was conducted.
- Six preterm infants (gestational age 33-36 weeks) and their parents participated.
- Infant heart rate, blood perfusion, and saturation were monitored. Parents completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS).
Main Results:
- Infant heart rate significantly decreased, and blood perfusion marginally increased during PT-MT compared to baseline.
- These physiological changes were not sustained post-intervention.
- Parental EPDS scores showed a decreasing trend but did not reach statistical significance.
Conclusions:
- PT-MT demonstrates promise as an intervention to alleviate distress in preterm infants and their parents.
- Further research with increased session frequency and participant numbers is recommended.
- The study highlights the need for continued exploration of music therapy in neonatal care settings.
Objective:
We aim to test the feasibility and effectiveness of Premature Triadic Music Therapy (PT-MT) in the premature baby unit.
Methods:
The design was a clinical pre-test-post-test trial with a convenience sample. Inclusion criteria were a gestational age higher than 28 weeks for preterm infants and the absence of shock or extreme distress for parents. Six preterm children (with a gestational age of 33 to 36 weeks) and their parents participated in the study. For the children, we measured heart rate, blood perfusion, and blood saturation at three different times (pre-PT-MT, during PT-MT, after PT-MT) as quantitative indicators of distress. Their parents completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) before and after the PT-MT intervention.
Results:
We found a statistically significant lower heart rate and a marginally statistically significant higher blood perfusion during PT-MT, as compared to the baseline. However, these changes were not present at the end of PT-MT. The parents' EPDS scores were not statistically significantly lower at the post-test, although, the Medians of the scores did decrease.
Conclusions:
PT-MT is a promising intervention for the reduction of distress in both parents and children. Further studies should include a higher number of sessions and participants.