A Structured Review on the Effect of Music Therapy on the Development of Preterm Babies

Abstract

Background: Improving the developmental outcomes of preterm babies has prompted an extensive research interest in the use of alternative methods during neonatal care. An example of such alternative methods is music therapy. Although, there is evidence suggesting a beneficial effect of music therapy in soothing and stress reduction, its effect on the development of preterm babies remains unclear. Objective: To review the literature on the use of music therapy (live or classical music, singing, recorded sounds), in order to determine its effects on the development of preterm babies. Methods: Articles were retrieved from the following databases: MEDLINE Ovid, PubMed, EMBASE, SCOPUS and the Cochrane Database of Systematic reviews. Articles were subjected to predetermined exclusion and inclusion criteria; and reviewed by two independent reviewers. Results: 454 articles were retrieved using the initial search criteria. After removal of irrelevant citations and duplicate articles, 75 articles remained, of which 26 met the inclusion criteria. Conclusion: The existing evidence on the effect of music therapy on the development of preterm babies is mixed. While some studies report beneficial effect on developmental outcomes such as physiological and behavioural responses, others report no significant effect. Further research is required in this field. Keywords: preterm, music therapy, NICU, live singing, classical music, development, physiological response, behavioural response, stress, pain.