Effect of the Sound of the Holy Quran on the Physiological Responses and Pain Caused by Blood Sampling from the Heels of Hospitalized Neonates at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Background: Invasive procedures could change the physiological responses of neonates. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of the sound of the Holy Quran on the physiological responses and pain caused by heel stick blood sampling in neonates. Methods: This three-stage, two-group, clinical trial was conducted on 72 hospitalized term neonates at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Al-Zahra Hospital in Isfahan, Iran during 2013-2014. Subjects were selected via simple random sampling and allocated to two groups of intervention and control. Data were collected using a questionnaire consisting of the demographic characteristics, physiological responses, and pain of the neonates. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 18. Results: Post-hoc LSD test indicated that the mean respiratory and heart rates were significantly higher in the intervention group (sound of the Holy Quran) during blood sampling compared to before and three minutes after the procedure (P 0.001). In addition, the results of post-hoc LSD test showed that oxygen saturation was significantly lower during blood sampling compared to before (P=0.001) and three minutes after the procedure (P=0.002) in the intervention group. However, the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.54). Conclusion: According to the results, playing the sound of the Holy Quran during painful procedures could positively influence the stabilization of the physiological responses in the hospitalized neonates, thereby reducing their exposure to the risk of decreased oxygen saturation and the associated complications.