The Use of Music for Neonates Post-Cardiac Surgery

March 8, 2022 updated by: Jean Connor, Boston Children's Hospital
The purpose of this study is to explore the feasibility of implementing nurse-led music therapy in a cohort of neonates admitted to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) post congenital heart surgery. In the proposed setting, the use of a standardized nurse-led music therapy protocol for post-operative neonates would build upon current successful nurse-led efforts to wean sedatives and opioid use for patients admitted to the CICU. The investigators believe data generated from this exploratory feasibility study may serve to further inform a larger study involving the use of music therapy in the cardiac intensive care.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

A predetermined recording of a music playlist meeting the properties of sedative music is being developed in consultation with a Boston Children's Hospital (BCH) music therapist. Properties of sedative music include soothing, stable, constant, and relatively unchanging, slow tempo and light rhythmic emphasis, constant volume and rhythm, lullaby style, repetitious and no separate melody for chorus/bridge. The music recorded for the neonates has been produced specifically for this study. In accordance with the recommendations for soothing music, BCH Music Therapists have recorded English nursery rhymes (Figure 1) in the key of C major at 60bpm with acoustic guitar and voice. The playlist will be stored on an Apple iPod Touch and will be delivered through a Bluetooth speaker that is positioned centrally (so that the sound input is received binaurally) at the subjects head or feet for a period of 20 minutes once during a 12-hour shift for 14 days or until mechanical ventilation has been discontinued, whichever is first.

The literature supports a duration of up to 30 minutes of music therapy followed by at least 30 minutes of silence, with a maximum of four hours per day. Music played for longer than 30 minutes has the potential to be a source of over-stimulation/agitation. There is some evidence to suggest that playing music for long periods of time (two four-hour segments) has a negative effect. In addition, it seems reasonable and likely to assume that the neonate could have a period of 30 minutes when they will not require an intervention associated with post-operative care. The protocol will target a 20 minute playlist. This will allow for variation in the length of songs while ensuring that music will not be played for longer than 30 minutes. There will be at least 30 minutes of quiet between music therapy session.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

10

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02115
        • Boston Children's Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

1 second to 4 weeks (CHILD)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Greater than 37 weeks gestation,
  • Between 0 to 30 days of age
  • 24 hours post congenital heart surgery
  • Receiving mechanical ventilation
  • Background noise level (at bedside) at the time of music therapy must be 55dB or less.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Hemodynamically unstable or end of life
  • If patient is in a closed Giraffe bed
  • Evidence of hearing impairment
  • Patient has known or suspected active seizure disorder

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
  • Allocation: NA
  • Interventional Model: SINGLE_GROUP
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Music Therapy
Implement standardized nurse-led music therapy for neonates post congenital heart surgery who are admitted to the cardiac intensive care unit.
Standardized music playlist will be played centrally at the subjects head or feet for a period of 20 minutes once during a 12-hour shift for 14 days or until mechanical ventilation has been discontinued, whichever is first

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Feasibility of initiating music therapy protocol: Proportion of shifts with music therapy
Time Frame: 14 days or when mechanical ventilation is discontinued, whichever comes first
Proportion of shifts with music therapy using the number of shifts during music therapy was initiated by number of eligible shifts
14 days or when mechanical ventilation is discontinued, whichever comes first
Feasibility of implementing 20-minute music therapy protocol: Proportion of shifts that the subject received the full 20- minute therapy uninterrupted
Time Frame: 14 days or when mechanical ventilation is discontinued, whichever comes first
Proportion of shifts that the subject received the full 20- minute therapy uninterrupted using the number of shifts receiving the full therapy by the number of eligible therapy sessions
14 days or when mechanical ventilation is discontinued, whichever comes first

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Bedside nurse perception of music therapy
Time Frame: Baseline and 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes from start of music therapy
Bedside nurse will provide information on the ease or difficulty in administering the music therapy and to report any difficulties. Nurses will state if perceived the music therapy to provide any benefit as well as any additional comments or feedback.
Baseline and 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes from start of music therapy
Parent Satisfaction: survey
Time Frame: 24 hours following completion of music therapy

Parents will be given a survey regarding satisfaction with the music therapy and any additional comments. Questions include satisfaction with music therapy, enjoyment of music, and beneficial/positive effects on infant and on parent themselves.

Questions will be asked using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. The rating for each question will range from 1 to 5. Strongly Disagree will be measured as 1, Disagree will be measured as 2, Neutral will be measured as 3, Agree will be measured as 4, and Strongly Agree will be measured as 5.

The means/average of each question will be analysed. Questions rating 4.0 or higher will be considered as satisfaction. Average scores of 3.0-3.9 are considered Neutral, and Average scores below 3.0 are considered unsatisfied.

There is also a section to allow for the parents to add additional comments on thoughts on the music therapy.

24 hours following completion of music therapy
Physiological Measure - Heart Rate
Time Frame: Baseline and 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes from start of music therapy
The beside nurses will record the heart rate of the neonate.
Baseline and 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes from start of music therapy
Physiological Measure - Blood Pressure
Time Frame: Baseline and 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes from start of music therapy
The beside nurses will record the blood pressure (including systolic and diastolic pressures) of the neonate.
Baseline and 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes from start of music therapy
Physiological Measure - Oxygen Saturation
Time Frame: Baseline and 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes from start of music therapy
The beside nurses will record the oxygen saturation of the neonate.
Baseline and 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes from start of music therapy
Physiological Measure - State Behavioral Scale
Time Frame: Baseline and 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes from start of music therapy

The beside nurses will record the state behavioral scale (SBS) of the neonate. The SBS is determined by the Score as patient's response to voice then gentle touch then noxious stimuli (planned endotracheal suctioning or <5 seconds of nail bed pressure). SBS scores range from -3 to +2.

The score for -3 is unresponsive, -2 is responsive to noxious stimuli, -1 is responsive to gentle touch or voice, 0 is awake and able to calm, +1 is restless and difficult to calm, and +2 is agitated.

Baseline and 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes from start of music therapy
Physiological Measure - Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) scale.
Time Frame: Baseline and 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes from start of music therapy

The beside nurses will record the FLACC scale of the neonate. Each category of the FLACC score is rated from 0 to 2. The total score ranges between 0 and 10.

For Face, 0 is no particular expression or smile, 1 is occasional grimace or frown; withdrawn, disinterested, 2 is frequent to constant frown, clenched jaw, quivering chin.

For Legs, 0 is normal position or relaxed, 1 is uneasy, restless, tense, 2 is kicking or legs drawn up.

For Activity, 0 is lying quietly, normal position, moves easily, 1 is squirming, shifting back and forth, tense, 2 is arched, rigid, or jerking.

For Cry, 0 is no cry (awake or asleep), 1 is moans or whimpers, occasional complaint, 2 is crying steadily, screams or sobs; frequent complaints.

For Consolability, 0 is content, relaxed, 1 is reassured by occasional touching, hugging or being talked to; distractable, and 2 is difficult to console or comfort.

Baseline and 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes from start of music therapy
Measuring sedation
Time Frame: Baseline and 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes from start of music therapy
The beside nurses will record if sedation was given.
Baseline and 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes from start of music therapy
Music Frequency
Time Frame: Baseline and 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes from start of music therapy
The beside nurses will record if the music therapy was stopped and the reason for stopping
Baseline and 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes from start of music therapy

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (ACTUAL)

July 20, 2019

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

March 1, 2020

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

February 15, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 15, 2019

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 23, 2019

First Posted (ACTUAL)

April 24, 2019

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

March 10, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 8, 2022

Last Verified

March 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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