The clinical effect of classical music and lullaby on term babies in neonatal intensive care unit: A randomised controlled trial.

To investigate the effect of music during routine nursing care on full-term newborns physiological measurements, hospital stay and stress symptoms.The randomised controlled trial was conducted at the Level II neonatal intensive care unit of a state hospital in Turkey from November 2014 to August 2015, and comprised full-term newborns. Three groups were formed by simple randomisation according to babies' Score for Neonatal Acute Physiology with Perinatal Extension-II; classical music, lullaby, and a control group. An audio system was installed in the incubators, and the sound level was set at 65dB for 30 minutes of classical music or lullabies during daily routine nursing care. Vital signs and stress indicators of the babies were measured before, during and after care. Their weight was measured daily, while length and head chest circumference were measured weekly.There were 45 newborns; 15(33.3%) in each of the three groups. Classical music had a positive effect on maintaining body temperature and oxygen saturation values of the babies (p<0.05). Classical music and lullabies reduced stress symptoms comp a red to the controls ( p< 0 .0 5 ).Lullaby and classical music application during routine nursing care showed the potential to maintain physiological parameters and in reducing stress.