ArticleScientific reports2021
Maternal speech decreases pain scores and increases oxytocin levels in preterm infants during painful procedures.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05526378 (Effect of Three Different Sensory Interventions on Pain Level During Heel Blood Collection in Term Infant), which is not on this map. Cited by 36 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effect of Three Different Sensory Interventions on Pain Level During Heel Blood Collection in Term Infant: a Randomized Controlled Study
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 64 citations in OpenAlex.
- Music's context-dependent influence on oxytocin, social bonding, and emotion regulation: a systematic review.Frontiers in cognition · 2025Pooled it
- Musical and vocal interventions to improve neurodevelopmental outcomes for preterm infants.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Kangaroo Care for Relieving Neonatal Pain Caused by Invasive Procedures: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Computational intelligence and neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- A prospective randomized crossover trial studying the effects of maternal heartbeat and voice sounds on resting energy expenditure in preterm infants.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026Trial
- The Effect of Mother's Gentle Human Touch on Preterm Neonate's Pain and Maternal Anxiety During Venipuncture in Turkiye.Research in nursing & health · 2025Trial
- Oxytocin Modulates Microglial IL-17-Linked Inflammatory Pathways Through the IL-6/COX-2.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Music-based research in neonatal intensive care units requires guidelines grounded in developmental neurology and responsive to the individual needs of preterm infants.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Role of maternal sound stimulation in the NICU: improving outcomes for newborns and their families.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Review
- Repetitive daily oxytocin treatment reduces weight gain but not acute neonatal procedural pain.Pediatric research · 2025Article
- Behavioral and physiological pain structures of PIPP-R and parental stress: structural equation modeling approach.Pediatric research · 2025Article
- Maternal singing and speech have beneficial effects on preterm infant's general movements at term equivalent age and at 3 months: an RCT.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Effect of auditory interventions on pain in premature infants: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) · 2025Article
- The Effect of Maternal Oxytocin Induction during Birth on Early Neonatal Pain and Stress: A Quasi-Experimental Study.Biological research for nursing · 2025Article
- Research progress on the mechanisms of pain empathy.Ibrain · 2025Review
- Parents in Neonatal Pain Management-An International Survey of Parent-Delivered Interventions and Parental Pain Assessment.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- "Preparation Is Key": Parents' and Nurses' Perceptions of Combined Parent-Delivered Pain Management in Neonatal Care.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Home Musical Activities Boost Premature Infants' Language Development.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- The effect of maternal voice and non-nutritional sucking on repeated procedural pain of heel prick in neonates: a quasi-experimental study.BMC pediatrics · 2024Article
- Fantastic voyage:Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Review
- Early parental vocal contact in neonatal units: rationale and clinical guidelines for implementation.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Preterm infants undergo early separation from parents and are exposed to frequent painful clinical procedures, with resultant short- and long-term effects on their neurodevelopment. We aimed to establish whether the mother's voice could provide an effective and safe analgesia for preterm infants and whether endogenous oxytocin (OXT) could be linked to pain modulation. Twenty preterm infants were exposed to three conditions-mother's live voice (speaking or singing) and standard care-in random order during a painful procedure. OXT levels (pg/mL) in saliva and plasma cortisol levels were quantified, and the Premature Infant Pain Profile (PIPP) was blindly coded by trained psychologists. During the mother's live voice, PIPP scores significantly decreased, with a concomitant increase in OXT levels over baseline. The effect on pain perception was marginally significant for singing. No effects on cortisol levels were found. The mother's live voice modulated preterm infants' pain indicators. Endogenous OXT released during vocal contact is a promising protective mechanism during early painful interventions in at-risk populations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.