Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Mar;19(2):107-12.

The effects of earmuff on physiologic and motor responses in premature infants admitted in neonatal intensive care unit

Zahra Abdeyazdan  1 , Sara Ghassemi  2 , Maryam Marofi  3
Affiliations

The effects of earmuff on physiologic and motor responses in premature infants admitted in neonatal intensive care unit

Zahra Abdeyazdan et al. Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res. 2014 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Continuous high-intensity noise in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is stressful for premature infants and its reduction is considered as a nursing care. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of earmuffs' use on the physiologic and motor responses of premature infants.

Materials and methods: This is a clinical trial conducted on 64 premature infants admitted to the NICU, who met the inclusion criteria, and were randomly assigned to study and control groups. Earmuffs were used for premature infants for 2 h in the morning and 2 h in the afternoon for two consecutive days to reduce the noise intensity in the busiest time of the NICU. The group with earmuff (study group) was compared with the control group receiving only routine care. Infants' physiologic and motor responses were observed before, during, immediately, and 1 h after the intervention. Analysis of covariance and repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data.

Results: When infants wore the earmuffs, they had significantly higher mean arterial oxygen saturation, the less frequent motor response, and a decrease in their pulse and respiratory rate.

Conclusion: Paying attention to environmental noise can help the patients, especially the neonates in the NICU, and can be considered as a nursing care. Wearing earmuffs can protect premature infants against noise in the NICU and improve their physiological and motor state.

Keywords: Intensive care units; Iran; noise; nursing; premature infants.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: Nil

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Changes in mean numbers of motor responses in the two groups at various time points
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Mandy GT, Weisman LE, Kim MS. Incidence and mortality of the premature infant. 2008. www.uptodate.com/contents/Incidence and mortality of the premature infant .
    1. Ebrahimi S, Haghbin S, Poormahmoodi A. Incidence and Eiologic facor of premauriy’. SID 2000. 2001;32:35–9.
    1. Kellam B, Bhatia J. Sound spectral analysis in the intensive care nursery: Measuring high-frequency sound. J Pediatr Nurs. 2008;23:317–23. - PubMed
    1. Gooding LF. Using music therapy protocols in the treatment of premature infants: An introduction to current practices. Art Psychother. 2010;37:211–4.
    1. Perlman JM. Neurobehavioral deficits in premature graduates of intensive care-potential medical and neonatal environment risk factors. Pediatrics. 2001;108:1339–48. - PubMed