Premature babies may feel less pain and eat more when listening to music, new research suggests.
Experts led by Dr Manoj Kumar of the University of Alberta, Canada, analysed nine clinical trials and found that music had a beneficial effect on lessening pain for premature babies undergoing painful procedures such as heel prick blood tests. It also appeared to benefit full-term babies during operations.
The research, published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, included trials published between 1989 and 2006 looking at music and heart rate, oxygen saturation and pain levels.
Most of the trials used lullabies with or without added sounds such as heartbeats or womb noises. One used live music – a specially composed wordless lullaby sung by a female voice and accompanied by a harp.
The trials covered a range of populations studied in different ways, making it difficult to reach definitive conclusions, but the authors found "much preliminary evidence for therapeutic benefits of music for specific indications".
Dr Kumar said: "One study noted that the use of a pacifier-activated lullaby system in the preterm infants helped improve their oral feeding rates."
The team writes: "In summary, there is preliminary evidence to suggest that music may have beneficial effects in terms of physiological parameters, behavioural states and pain reduction during painful medical procedures.
"However, most trials conducted to date are of poor methodological quality. Additional methodologically rigorous, randomised controlled trials are warranted to confirm and to further elucidate the benefits of music for neonates before any specific recommendation for the use of music can be made in the neonatal population."
Kumar, M. et al. Music for medical indications in the neonatal period: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials. Archives of Disease in Childhood, published online May 27, 2009.
Leave a Reply