Background: Sleep deprivation is frequently observed among critically ill patients, and sleep aids still lack robust evidence of efficacy. Thus, the present randomised controlled study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of weighted blankets as non-pharmacological sleep aids for patients in the intensive care unit.
Methods: Patients scheduled to be admitted to the intensive care unit after elective hepatobiliary-pancreatic surgery were randomly assigned to one of two groups: a weighted blanket group or a normal blanket group. Sleep quality was evaluated using the Japanese version of the Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire.
Results: A total of 50 patients were included in this study: 25 in the weighted blanket group and 25 in the normal blanket group. There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding the average total score of Japanese version of the Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire: 46 [interquartile range = 30-70] versus 56 [36-70] (p = 0.62). All five domains of Japanese version of the Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire also showed no significant difference between the two groups.
Conclusion: The results of this study did not show an improvement in the Japanese version of the Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire scores in intensive care unit patients following major abdominal surgery with the use of weighted blankets, indicating a lack of efficacy as a sleep aid for acute sleep deprivation.
Keywords: Intensive care units; Patient satisfaction; Sleep; Sleep deprivation; Sleep quality; Surgery.