ABSTRACT
Objective: To assess the effect of maternal audiotaped voice on clinical parameters of sedated children. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted on 25 sedated critically ill children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit. An audiotaped maternal voice was played to the children in the experimental group (n=13) via a headphone for 15 minutes, twice a day for 3 days. Children in the control group (n=12) received routine care without any additional auditory stimulation. Clinical and hemodynamic variables were recorded at 5 minutes interval three times. Results: Significant changes were observed in the mean (SD) heart rate (per minute) at 10 minutes [129.83 (19.14) vs 124.29 (14.90), P=0.051], respiratory rate at 5 minutes [44.38 (17.79) vs 34.65 (7.64), P=<0.001] and 10 minutes [42.79 (13.89) vs 35.44 (7.65) P=<0.001], systolic blood pressure at 5 minutes [95.24 (15.01) vs 101.02 (19.83) P=0.045], and mean blood pressure at 15 minutes [68.66 (13.61) vs 73.61 (17.59) P=0.051] mmHg between the experimental and the control group, respectively. Conclusion: Listening to recorded maternal voice had a positive effect on clinical parameters of sedated critically ill children.