Researchers from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio report that playing soft music in the cast room decreases anxiety in young children who require placement or removal of a cast on a broken bone.

First, the details.

• 28 children were exposed to an instrumental lullaby piped into the cast room as background music.
• 41 were randomly assigned to not be exposed to music.
• 39 children had casts removed and 26 had casts applied.
• There were also 3 cases of pin removal from a bone, and one of suture removal.

And, the results.

• The change in heart rate between the waiting room and the cast room was -2.7 beats/min in the music group and +4.7 beats/min in the no music group
• The difference in heart rate between the waiting room and during the procedure was 15.3 beats/min in the music group and 22.5 beats/min in the no music group.
• These differences were statistically significant
• 7 patients in the no music group had heart rate increases of greater than 40 beats/min.
• No child in the music group had an increase of this magnitude.

The bottom line?
The authors concluded, “Playing soft music in the cast room is a simple and inexpensive option for decreasing anxiety in young children during cast room procedures.”

11/20/07 19:53 JR