Ney Music During Non-Stress Test and Maternal Anxiety

March 6, 2026 updated by: Hediye Karakoç

Effect of Ney Music During the Non-Stress Test on Maternal State Anxiety, Autonomic Regulation, and Fetal Reactivity: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This randomized controlled trial evaluates the effects of listening to ney music during routine non-stress testing (NST) on maternal psychological and physiological responses and fetal reactivity. Maternal anxiety during NST may activate sympathetic pathways and potentially influence fetal heart rate patterns. A total of 126 pregnant women at ≥32 weeks' gestation were randomly assigned to either an intervention group (ney music during NST) or a control group (standard NST care). Maternal state anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-State), perceived stress and anxiety (DASS-21), blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, and NST reactivity were assessed before and after the procedure. The primary objective is to determine whether ney music reduces acute maternal state anxiety during NST. Secondary objectives include evaluating its effects on autonomic physiological parameters and fetal NST reactivity.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

126

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

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

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion criteria were:

  • age ≥18 years,
  • gestational age ≥32 weeks,
  • singleton pregnancy,
  • absence of known fetal cardiovascular anomalies,
  • no visual or hearing impairments,
  • having eaten at least two hours before the NST,
  • bladder emptied prior to the procedure,
  • voluntary participation.

Exclusion criteria included:

  • pre-existing maternal medical conditions (hypertension, diabetes, obesity),
  • multiple pregnancy,
  • smoking,
  • known fetal abnormalities or fetal distress,
  • inherited anemia or sexually transmitted infections.

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: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Ney Music During NST
Pregnant women listened to ney music ("Aşkın Yolculuğu") via headphones for 20 minutes during routine non-stress testing (NST).
Behavioral: Ney Music
Listening to prerecorded ney music through headphones during the 20-minute NST procedure.
No Intervention: Standard NST (No Music)
No Intervention

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
State Anxiety (STAI-S Score)
Time Frame: Immediately before NST and immediately after NST (20 minutes)
Change in maternal state anxiety measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-State (STAI-S) before and immediately after the non-stress test (NST).
Immediately before NST and immediately after NST (20 minutes)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Systolic Blood Pressure (mmHg)
Time Frame: Before and immediately after NST (20 minutes)
Before and immediately after NST (20 minutes)
Diastolic Blood Pressure (mmHg)
Time Frame: Before and immediately after NST (20 minutes)
Before and immediately after NST (20 minutes)
Heart Rate (beats per minute)
Time Frame: Before and immediately after NST (20 minutes)
Before and immediately after NST (20 minutes)
Respiratory Rate (breaths per minute)
Time Frame: Before and immediately after NST (20 minutes)
Before and immediately after NST (20 minutes)
Oxygen Saturation (%)
Time Frame: Before and immediately after NST (20 minutes)
Before and immediately after NST (20 minutes)
NST Reactivity (Reactive vs Non-reactive)
Time Frame: During 20-minute NST session
During 20-minute NST session

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Hediye Karakoç

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)

May 30, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 30, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

August 30, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 1, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 1, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

March 5, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 9, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 6, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2023/016

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

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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