Using song to calm

Nursery songs reduce anxiety during emergency department procedure. Compared with young children who heard no music during a head computed tomography (CT) scan, similar youngsters who heard children’s songs with integrated heartbeat sounds before and during the procedure experienced less agitation, as measured by a visual analog scale (VAS). During the head CT, the VAS score improved in 53% of children who heard the music compared with 25% of those who did not. This indicates that 1 in 3 to 4 children will show an improvement in anxiety with use of this intervention (Park G, et al. Am J Emerg Med. 2015; 33[10]:1477-1482).

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Ms Freedman is a freelance medical editor and writer in New Jersey. She has nothing to disclose in regard to affiliations with or financial interests in any organizations that may have an interest in any part of this article.