A study conducted at the Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petach Tikvah has found that playing music helps toddlers up to age two who are suffering with bronchiolitis (inflammation of the airways).
According to the study, music improved the toddlers’ essential physiological indicators, such as: blood oxygen level, heart rate, respiratory rate and more, which contribute to recovery.
Some children with bronchiolitis require hospitalization; those up to age six who are hospitalized are also at increased risk of developing asthma.
The study was conducted by Dr. Noa Ziv, a senior physician in the Department of Pediatrics C. Schneider Center.
The researchers monitored 52 children who were hospitalized following bronchiolitis, divided into three groups.
Mozart – proven to positively affect physiological parameters in adult patients — was played for each young patient for 25 minutes once a day or several times during their hospitalization, using headphones in which the volume was adjusted.
The study found that patients in the three groups – including the control group — showed improvement in the indices and were released home more quickly than patients with the same virus who did not participate in the study, 60 percent in the silent group, and 77 percent in the study group.
“All the children who participated in the study showed an improvement in oxygen consumption, ate better, showed alertness, joy and a better feeling,” the researchers said.
“In the natural course of the disease, unfortunately, apart from providing oxygen, monitoring and monitoring there is nothing that contributes to rapid improvement,” said Dr. Noa Ziv, lead researcher.
“So it was very gratifying to find out in the research we did that there is something that contributes towards changing the situation of the children, and all the more so that it is such a trivial matter for all of us – music.
“It was amazing to see how within 25 minutes the children who participated in the study showed rapid changes that we did not see in other patients,” she said.
“This means that the disconnection from the noisy environment in the hospital, from the monitors, the oxygen noise and the staff – is what leads to an improvement in the vital indicators.
“This study is just a small example of the many studies that are being done at Schneider all the time, with the goal of giving children hope and a better future, and I am proud to be a part of that.”
