Abstract
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screenings are routine procedures that are consistently
described as stressful for preterm infants; however, research on how to reduce infant
distress during this procedure is limited. The purpose of this experimental study was to
determine the effect of music therapy on infant distress responses during ROP screenings
in a Level III NICU setting, as well as to compare how the use of music therapy affected
caregivers’ perceptions of the screening experience. Participants in the experimental
group were presented with the music therapist singing a lullaby in English or Spanish,
while trained staff members video recorded both the infant and the monitor. Following
the exam, caregivers (n = 4) were given a survey, in which they rated their experience on
a Likert scale. The music therapist later reviewed the videos and scored participants (n =
15) in both the control and experimental groups according to the PIPP-R. The outcome of
this study suggests that music therapy does not significantly reduce infant distress during
ROP screenings (p = 0.452); however, several limitations may have contributed to this
result. The results also suggest that caregivers who experienced music therapy perceived
that their infant and the staff were less stressed and both caregivers answered that they
would request music therapy for future screenings; however, these results could not be
determined to be significant due to the small sample size. This researcher offers multiple
suggestions for future research, including collecting data from a larger sample size and
determining the effect of music therapy on staff and caregiver stress.
