The effect of playing music and mother's voice to children on sedation level and requirement during pediatric magnetic resonance imaging

•Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedure require patients to remain still in a confined space for long periods. This can be extremely difficult for pediatric patients.•The music or the mother's voice would reduce the need for sedatives during MRI.•To listen to the mother's voice during MRI in pediatric patients reduced the total sedative requirement consumed without increasing the depth of sedation.•The mother's voice is non-pharmacological, easily accessible. The mother's voice does not have any side effects. Magnetic resonance imaging examinations frequently cause anxiety and fear in children. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of listening to music sound, the mother's voice, and sound isolation on the depth of sedation and need for sedatives in pediatric patients who would undergo MRI. Ninety pediatric patients aged 3 to 12 years who were planned for imaging in the MRI unit were randomly assigned to isolation group (Group I), musical sound group (Group II), and mother's voice group (Group III). We evaluated patients' anxiety and sedation levels via the Observer's Assessment of Alertness/Sedation (OAA/S) Heart rate, oxygen saturation, OAA/S, and Ramsey scores during the procedure were not significantly different among the groups (p>0.05). The mean amount of propofol and total propofol consumption was statistically lower in the mother's voice group than in the isolation and music sound groups (p0.05). No difference was found between the groups regarding the time it took for the patients' Modified Aldrete score to reach 9 (p>0.05). In pediatric patients, listening to the mother's voice during MRI decreased the total sedative requirement consumed without increasing the depth of sedation.