Bibliometric analysis on inclusion regarding kids and teenagers with disability using music as the main tool

Objective: to identify literature and bibliographical evidence regarding, the use of music as a tool during social inclusion processes of people with disabilities; this was done in order to obtain and supply theoretical bases to the project which pertains and arises from the agreement between the Fundación Saldarriaga Concha and the Fundación Nacional Batuta. Materials and methods: as the research strategy implemented during the investigation, “music”, “inclusion” and “disability” with the Boolean AND were used as the search criteria in three different databases: Ebsco, Medline and Lilacs. The analysis was elaborated considering the frequency of different variables/ characteristics of the articles such as, journal, country, type of study and the year it was published. Twenty two articles met the search criteria defined by the authors. Results: the results indicated that the database which contained the most amount of evidence is Ebsco, specifically in the Music Educators Journal, during the years of 2004-2006 40,9%) and the majority of articles were published in the United States (81,8%). The most common and frequent type of study found was the subject review (86,4%), mainly incorporating search topics like music-disability. Agreeing with Rumbo, Aranton and García, the level of evidence of the analyzed documents is generally 3, indicating that, above all, the studies tend to be descriptive and based on the opinion of experts. Conclusions: after systematically carrying out the research, it is possible to conclude that the publications which consider the use of music as a tool to facilitate social inclusion processes in children and teenagers, is low. Due to the results obtained, it is strongly suggested that, writers begin to systemize and publish the results evidenced in this field of Occupational Therapy. This paper provides a possible route for future research regarding the topic.