Objective: To assess the effect of recorded maternal voice on child's cooperation during cardiac catheterization.
Design: Randomized placebo controlled trial.
Setting: Cardiac catheterization laboratory at a tertiary care hospital.
Participants: 90 children with congenital heart disease scheduled for cardiac catheterization between July 2014 and Dec 2014 randomized to maternal voice group and control group.
Intervention: During cardiac catheterization, children in maternal voice group listened to a 3-min audio-recording of their mother's voice, played in loop, using head-phones. Children in the other group wore headphones without auditory stimuli.
Main outcome measures: Child's cooperation during cardiac catheterization as assessed by Child Emotional Manifestation Scale.
Results: Children in the maternal voice group showed lower mean (SD) distress scores [13.2 (4.6) vs. 16 (5.6), P=0.01]. The requirement of sedative agents during the procedure was not different (P=0.09).
Conclusion: Allowing children to listen to recorded voice of their mother is an effective strategy to improve cooperation during cardiac catheterization.