Effect of Indian classical music on heart rate and oxygen saturation in preterm neonates in the ICN

Abstract

Objective: To determine the immediate cardio-respiratory effects of classical music in preterm neonates as a mode of ICN related stress relaxation.Methods: Indian classical music (vocal and instrumental) were selected as a series of 5 set of 6 minutes each and played for babies through earphones and use of special audio-tapes for a total duration of 30 minutes at 50-60 dB. Heart rate and oxygen saturation by pulse-oximetry were monitored continuously and recorded at one minute intervals. The study duration was 60 minutes: 15 minutes pre-music therapy (BM), 30 minutes of music (MM) and 15 minutes post-music (PM). Babies were studied for 3 consecutive days: Day #1 and #3 for music therapy (MT) and Day #2 as the control period when no music was played through the earphones. Results: Gestation and birthweight of the 41 preterm neonates studied were 32.7 ± 1.3 weeks and 1620 ± 230 g, respectively. Mean heart rate values on Day 1 (with music) were significantly lower during the music (MM) and post-music (PM) phases compared to (BM) [144.1 ± 5. (BM), 137.0 ± 4.6 (MM) and 135.0 ± 4.2 (PM); BM vs. MM, P< 0.05, BM vs PM P< 0.05]. Similar results were witnessed again on Day 3 (with music) [144.8 ± 5.3 (BM), 137.6 ± 3.9 (MM), 134.1 ± 3.6 (PM); BM vs PM P< 0.05, BM vs PM P< 0.05]. In contrast, on Day 2 of study (no music), there were no differences in the mean heart rate during the 3 phases of observation [144.5 ± 4.7 BM), 144.7 ± 5.2 (MM) and 144.6 ± 5.3 (PM); BM vs MM, NS; BM vs PM, NS]. Likewise, mean oxygen saturation values on Day 1 (with music) were significantly higher during the music (MM) and post-music (PM) phases than the baseline values (BM) [95.43 ± 0.31 (BM), 96.4 ± 0.3 (MM), 96.0 ± 0.4 (PM); BM vs MM, P < 0.05, BM vs PM < 0.05]. Similar results were obtained on Day 3 (with music) [94.6 ± 0.2 (BM), 96.0 ± 0.15 (MM), 95.7 ± 0.2 (PM); BM vs. MM, P< 0.05, BM vs PM P< 0.05]. In contrast, there were no differences in the oxygen saturation values in the three phases on Day 2 when no music was played [94.7 ± 0.3 (BM), 94.5 ± 0.4 (MM), 94.5 ± 0.3 (PM); BM vs. MM, NS; BM vs PM, NS]. No apneic bradycardia events were noted during music therapy. Conclusion: Listening to classical music, as used in this study, was associated with a significant (5-5.6%, p< 0.05) lowering of the resting heart rate and a consistent improvement of oxygen saturation (by 1-1.4%). These effects appear to persist beyond the MT and may play a useful role to achieve stress relaxation for babies in the ICN.