The soundscape of neonatal intensive care: a mixed-methods study of the parents’ experience

Chifa, Maria, Hadar, Tamar ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1765-0360, Politimou, Nina, Reynolds, Gemma ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2893-6380 and Franco, Fabia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1327-1080 (2021) The soundscape of neonatal intensive care: a mixed-methods study of the parents’ experience. Children, 8 (8) , 644. pp. 1-24. ISSN 2227-9067 [Article] (doi:10.3390/children8080644)

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Abstract

Parents who have infants hospitalised in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) experience high levels of stress, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. However, whether sounds contribute to parents’ stress remains largely unknown. Critically, researchers lack a com-prehensive instrument to investigate the relationship between sounds in NICUs and parental stress. To address this gap, this report presents the “Soundscape of NICU Questionnaire” (SON-Q), which was developed specifically to capture parents’ perceptions and beliefs about the impact that sound had on them and their infants, from pre-birth throughout the NICU stay and in the first postdischarge period. Parents of children born preterm (n = 386) completed the SON-Q and the Perinatal PTSD Questionnaire (PPQ). Principal Component Analysis identifying underly-ing dimensions comprising the parental experience of the NICU soundscape was followed by an exploration of the relationships between subscales of the SON-Q and the PPQ. Moderation analy-sis was carried out to further elucidate relationships between variables. Finally, thematic analy-sis was employed to analyse one memory of sounds in NICU open question. The results highlight systematic associations between aspects of the NICU soundscape and parental stress/trauma. The findings underscore the importance of developing specific studies in this area and devising inter-ventions to best support parents’ mental health, which could in turn support infants’ develop-mental outcomes.

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