This study will test a music intervention (MI) versus a sham control (SC) arm which only includes a verbal intervention, to determine if the effects of the music intervention will reduce the biological impact of chronic stress among pregnant Black women, reduce preterm birth, and improve infant outcomes.
Preterm birth occurs at unacceptably high rates in the United States, with Black women disproportionately affected. A long-recognized risk factor for preterm birth in this population is the relentless exposure to intersectional stress related to racial and sexual discrimination, poverty, and neighborhood disadvantage that Black women often experience from an early age. In this interdisciplinary study, the investigators bring together experts in preterm birth, music therapy, and metabolomics to address this health disparity by testing the efficacy of a live, culturally based music intervention to reduce the production of metabolites and metabolic pathways associated with chronic stress and thereby improve birth outcomes.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
142
The intervention will involve listening, playing and/or singing melodies or songs, that are meaningful to the participant, with interpretation/reflection on their relevance/capacity to alter stress.
The intervention will be to support a woman to talk about anything she wants that is important to her.
Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Mount Sinai Health System
New York, New York, United States
Columbia University Irving Medical Center/NewYork Presbyterian
New York, New York, United States
Score on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a 10-item scale that was developed to measure the degree to which situations in one's life are appraised as stressful. PSS scores are obtained by reversing responses (e.g., 0 = 4, 1 = 3, 2 = 2, 3 = 1 \& 4 = 0) to the four positively stated items (items 4, 5, 7, \& 8) and then summing across all scale items. Scores range from 0 to 40 with higher scores indicating a worse outcome.
Time frame: Week 1
Score on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a 10-item scale that was developed to measure the degree to which situations in one's life are appraised as stressful. PSS scores are obtained by reversing responses (e.g., 0 = 4, 1 = 3, 2 = 2, 3 = 1 \& 4 = 0) to the four positively stated items (items 4, 5, 7, \& 8) and then summing across all scale items. Scores range from 0 to 40 with higher scores indicating a worse outcome.
Time frame: Week 5
Score on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a 10-item scale that was developed to measure the degree to which situations in one's life are appraised as stressful. PSS scores are obtained by reversing responses (e.g., 0 = 4, 1 = 3, 2 = 2, 3 = 1 \& 4 = 0) to the four positively stated items (items 4, 5, 7, \& 8) and then summing across all scale items. Scores range from 0 to 40 with higher scores indicating a worse outcome.
Time frame: Week 10
Mean Gestational Age
Number of completed weeks/days of pregnancy will be collected and the mean will be calculated.
Time frame: Up to 43 weeks
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