The Effect of Music Therapy on Weight Gain among Preterm Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit - Possible Mechanisms

Preterm infants, especially those born before 32 weeks of gestation, experience extrauterine growth restriction (EUGR). Poor weight gain is associated with adverse neurocognitive outcomes. Many factors influence EUGR, including clinical, behavioral and developmental care modalities. This review describes the clinical and developmental factors that affect weight gain among preterm infants during their stay in the NICU, and evaluates the reported contributions of studies that used music therapy interventions to augment weight gain. We recommend that trials addressing weight gain during MT interventions should be long-term during NICU hospitalization, powered to detect even sub-optimal weight gain, include factors that directly influence weight gain and clinically-relevant morbidities of preterm infants, and incorporate developmental care and family centered care modalities, as much as possible. The use of proper methods to measure weight gain, such as individual Z-scores is recommended. We also recommend that the elements of the music therapy interventions that influence weight gain should be described systematically.