2024/04/26 by Kobus, Susann, Jouini, Eva, Maucher, Ines +5
#Medicine and health #behavioral state #hospitalized children #music therapy #neurological diseases #neurological early rehabilitation #pediatrics #physiotherapy
paper · doi:10.3205/jat000036
Background: Children with neurological impairment receive multimodal treatment during clinical inpatient stays. There is a general lack of empirical evidence on the combination of different therapy modalities. Methods: This study investigates music therapy assisted physiotherapy in the form of individually live performed music by a qualified music therapist to support a physiotherapy intervention and improve the patient’s behavior. We examined the behavioral responses of children with neurological impairment during music therapy assisted physiotherapy with the COMFORT Behavior Scale (CBS), an instrument that assesses the levels of sedation in children. The parameters alertness, calmness, crying, physical movement, muscle tone and facial tension were investigated in 17 children with neurological diseases during their hospitalized neurological early rehabilitation before, during and after the physiotherapy sessions with and without music therapy. Results: We observed significantly lower values of the total CBS scores during (mean differences –5.31; 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.67–5.94) and after the combined intervention (mean differences –7.73; 95% CI 7.15–8.31) than before. Conversely, we found an increasing total CBS score of 4.78 (95% CI 4.07–5.49) between baseline measurement and measurement during physiotherapy without music therapy. But we saw a decrease of the total CBS score of 4.52 between during and after the session, so that we had similar values before and after the sessions (mean difference 0.26, 95% CL –0.49–1.00). Conclusion: Overall, our findings suggest that music therapy is beneficial for neurologically impaired children during physiotherapy interventions with positive effects on their behavior.