title: The effects of music therapy on vital signs, feeding, and sleep in premature infants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recorded music risks overstimulation in NICUs. The live elements of music such as rhythm, breath, and parent-preferred lullabies may affect physiologic function (eg, heart and respiratory rates, O2 saturation levels, and activity levels) and developmental function (eg, sleep, feeding behavior, and weight gain) in premature infants.
  
  
  METHODS
  A randomized clinical multisite trial of 272 premature infants aged ≥32 weeks with respiratory distress syndrome, clinical sepsis, and/or SGA (small for gestational age) served as their own controls in 11 NICUs. Infants received 3 interventions per week within a 2-week period, when data of physiologic and developmental domains were collected before, during, and after the interventions or no interventions and daily during a 2-week period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three live music interventions showed changes in heart rate interactive with time. Lower heart rates occurred during the lullaby (P < .001) and rhythm intervention (P = .04). Sucking behavior showed differences with rhythm sound interventions (P = .03). Entrained breath sounds rendered lower heart rates after the intervention (P = .04) and differences in sleep patterns (P < .001). Caloric intake (P = .01) and sucking behavior (P = .02) were higher with parent-preferred lullabies. Music decreased parental stress perception (P < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The informed, intentional therapeutic use of live sound and parent-preferred lullabies applied by a certified music therapist can influence cardiac and respiratory function. Entrained with a premature infant's observed vital signs, sound and lullaby may improve feeding behaviors and sucking patterns and may increase prolonged periods of quiet-alert states. Parent-preferred lullabies, sung live, can enhance bonding, thus decreasing the stress parents associate with premature infant care.
authors.affiliation: The Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY 10003, USA. jloewy@chpnet.org
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Loewy
authors.forename: Kristen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: Ann-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Dassler
authors.forename: Aimee
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Telsey
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Homel
mesh_terms: D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D018730:Infant Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D007225:Infant Food; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009147:Music Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D012016:Reference Values; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D013391:Sucking Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014741:Video Recording; D055986:Vital Signs / Q000502:physiology*; D015430:Weight Gain
keywords: NICU music interventions; acoustic stimulation; music medicine; music therapy