Preterm infants' responses to music: an integrative literature review.

This review presents a systematic integrative summary of research that has been focused on the effects of music, auditory stimulation, or music therapy provided to premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Studies were included in the review if they met the following criteria: (A) included premature infants (less than 37 weeks gestational age at birth) in the NICU, and (B) evaluated the effects of music on the infant's physiologic or behavioral responses during the infant's stay in the NICU. Studies were identified through a search of Medline and CINAHL databases from 1970 to 2010. The final sample of 35 studies varied in sample size and characteristics, behavioral and physiologic dependent variables, procedures for selection of study participants, design, and methods of data analysis. Areas of consistency and inconsistency in the findings across these studies, and proposed recommendations for future research are identified. Future research should compare the effects of different types of live and recorded music, presented over different frequencies, durations, and decibel levels, and should examine differences in response to the music based on infant characteristics such as gestational age, morbidity level, and behavioral state.