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Updated: Jul 2, 2025
Clinical Practice Protocol of Creative Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Published on: January 7, 2020
Effect of music-based interventions on physiologic stability of hospitalized preterm infants. A pilot study
Carmina Erdei1,2, John Sunwoo3,4, Gabriel Cote Corriveau5
1Division of Newborn Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis St, Boston, MA, USA. cerdei@bwh.harvard.edu.
Background And Objective:
Hospitalized preterm infants experience reduced meaningful auditory exposures during a critical period of brain development. Music-based interventions (MBI) may be beneficial, though it remains unclear which stimuli optimally enhance infant stabilization. We investigated the relationship between three conceptually-different MBIs and short-term responses in hospitalized preterm infants.
Study Design:
This is a case-crossover pilot study including 21 preterm infants between 30 and 35 weeks postmenstrual age. Participants listened to three MBIs and 'no music'; each condition was provided three times in random order. We monitored physiologic and behavioral parameters around each exposure and analyzed results using linear mixed models.
Results:
Respiratory rates decreased after each MBI compared with 'no music' (p = 0.02). The most notable decrease occurred following exposure to a low, repetitive musical pattern resembling a lullaby (p = 0.01). We noted no significant changes for the remaining parameters.
Conclusion:
Specific MBI characteristics may preferentially enhance physiologic stabilization in hospitalized preterm infants.
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