Music therapy can lower the heart rates of severely sick children

Abstract

Music therapy significantly lowered the heart rate of children undergoing HSCT for at least four to eight hours, indicating reduced stress levels and potentially lowering the risk of developing PTSD.

Highlights in this issue

“…In this issue, Lena Uggla et al report that twice‐weekly music therapy lowered the heart rate of children undergoing haematopoietic stem cell transplants, compared to controls receiving standard care. The effect was sustained for at least four to eight hours, indicating reduced stress levels and potentially lowering the risk of post‐traumatic stress disorder . Töres Theorell comments on the finding .…”

Growing evidence supports the positive impact of music on child health

“…Of course, it is important that the choice of music is adapted to the experiences and needs of the individual patient and this is particularly important if the patient is a child. The Uggla et al (1) paper in this issue describes a very sensitive and interesting system for approaching the child, using a musical dialogue between the therapist, child and, in some cases, parents. This combined a mixture of passive listening and actively doing things.…”

“…The study by Uggla et al. in this issue of Acta Paediatrica adds valuable knowledge to the growing literature on the use of music in clinical child care. The authors performed a randomised control trial (RCT) on the effects that specifically designed music therapy had on the heart rates of children, from two to 16 years of age, receiving haematopoietic stem cell transplants.…”

“…The Uggla et al. paper in this issue describes a very sensitive and interesting system for approaching the child, using a musical dialogue between the therapist, child and, in some cases, parents. This combined a mixture of passive listening and actively doing things.…”

Investigating the effect of traditional Persian music on ECG signals in young women using wavelet transform and neural networks

“…Since 1918, some studies were conducted to investigate the effects of music on the heart rate and cardiovascular system (3). The effects of music on anxiety, pain, stress, depressive syndromes, and sleeplessness have been investigated (4, 5). It is claimed that patients benefited the most from listening to classical music, which could decrease the blood pressure and heart rate.…”