The "Sound of Silence" in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit-Listening to Speech and Music Inside an Incubator.

ABSTRACT: Background: The intrauterine hearing experience differs from the extrauterine hearing exposure within a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) setting. Also, the listening experience of a neonate drastically differs from that of an adult. Several studies have documented that the sound level within a NICU exceeds the recommended threshold by far, possibly related to hearing loss thereafter. The aim of this study was, first, to precisely define the dynamics of sounds within an incubator and, second, to give clinicians and caregivers an idea about what can be heard "inside the box." Methods: Audio recordings within an incubator were conducted at the Pediatric Simulation Center of the Medical University Vienna. They contained recorded music, speech, and synthesized sounds. To unders

SUBMITTER: Bertsch M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7264369 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature