Effects of Neurodevelopmental Stimulation on Premature Infants in Neonatal Intensive Care: Randomized Controlled Trial

The purpose of the current study was to identify effects of neurodevelopmental stimulation as administered by board certified music therapists to premature infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. Premature infants (N = 108) admitted and meeting inclusion criteria were included. Experimental subjects received the developmental multimodal stimulation protocol paired with live singing (n = 25) or live singing with guitar accompaniment (n = 29). The no contact control group received standard neonatal intensive care unit care (n = 54). An ANCOVA analyses with birth weight as a covariate resulted in significant main effects found for infant length of stay (p < .05). When comparing the means, differences were found between gender and types of music paired with the developmental multimodal stimulation. The results of this study suggest an increase in neurodevelopment for infants receiving developmental multimodal stimulation as hypothesized.