Effects of Oriental Music on Preterm Infants
Effects of Oriental Music on Preterm Infants
The goal of this study is to explore the effect of oriental music on premature infants'
 physiological and behavioral parameters during their hospital stay in the NICU.
Music exposure during care of preterm infants is the subject of increasing research. Many
 studies have shown positive impact of music exposure such as classical western music,
 lullabies or Quran on pain and physiological parameters of preterm infants in a neonatal
 intensive care unit (NICU) setting. No such study have explored the effect of oriental music
 which is the main popular music listened to in the Levant and Middle East and North Afrika
 (MENA) region.

 We aim in this study to find out if the oriental music exposure in preterm infants improves
 babies' heart rate variability, physiological parameters and behavior state during their NICU
 stay.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Clinically stable infants born between 28 and 366/7 weeks of gestation and ≥31 weeks
 Post Menstrual Age (PMA).

 -  Infants planned to stay in the NICU for at least 2 weeks at the time of enrollment.

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Congenital anomaly affecting heart rate and hearing, significant brain insult (such as
 severe or moderate hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH)
 grade 3 or 4 or periventricular leukomalacia) that might affect the neurodevelopmental
 outcome.

 -  Receiving medications that might interfere with heart rate and reaction to music
 exposure such as midazolam or morphine.