Paper: Effects of Music on Women's Stress, Anxiety and Sleep Quality during Pregnancy (Sigma Theta Tau International's 21st International Nursing Research Congress)

Tuesday, 13 July 2010: 8:30 AM

Chung-Hey Chen, PhD
Institute of Allied Health Sciences & Department of Nursing, Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
Yu-Hsiang Liu, MSN
College of Nursing, Fooyin University, Kaohsiung Hsien, Taiwan

Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to understand the specific wellness advantages for music therapy applied in pregnancy, especially sleep-disturbed pregnant women.

Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to identify the pregnant women’s preference of music type to enhance their sleep quality.

Background. Few studies have developed and tested non-pharmacological options for sleep-disturbed pregnant women, including music therapy.

Aims and objectives. This Taiwan study investigated what effect listening to pre-selected, relaxing music on a self-regulated basis at home, had on the perceived stress, state anxiety and sleep quality of sleep-disturbed pregnant women.Design. A randomized clinical trial.
Methods. One hundred and twenty-one pregnant women with sleep disorder (PSQI score > 5) were randomly assigned to music therapy (nپپ61) and control (nپپ60) groups. The music therapy group received two weeks of music intervention. The control group received only general prenatal care. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and State Scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (S-STAI) were used to measure outcomes.

Results. No significant differences were identified between groups for demographic characteristics. The PSQI, PSS, and S-STAI scores for these two groups prior to music intervention were similar. An ANCOVA test with the pretest scores as the control revealed that the changes in PSQI, PSS, and S-STAI after two weeks were significantly decreased in the experimental group compared with the control group. The results also revealed a music preference for lullabies, followed by classical music and crystal baby music.

Conclusions. This study provides evidence that two-week music listening can reduce stress, anxiety and thereby benefit a better sleep quality for sleep-disturbed pregnant women. Most participant women chose music which might represent wanting to have a prenatal influences or/and interaction with their unborn child.Relevance to clinical practice. Music is an effective mind-body intervention. The value of music to the family and clinical staff yielded sufficient significance to justify its use as a regular component of prepared childbirth education.

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