Trial reportCritical care (London, England)2015
Effects of earplugs and eye masks combined with relaxing music on sleep, melatonin and cortisol levels in ICU patients: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Critical care (London, England), 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 166 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review: auditory stimulation and sleep.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2022Pooled it
- The Efficacy of Eye Masks and Earplugs Interventions for Sleep Promotion in Critically Ill Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Non-pharmacological interventions to promote the sleep of patients after cardiac surgery: a systematic review.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2017Pooled it
- Sedation of mechanically ventilated adults in intensive care unit: a network meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2017Pooled it
- Music for insomnia in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Effects of music interventions on sleep in older adults: A systematic review.Geriatric nursing (New York, N.Y.)Pooled it
- Effects of motivational music on sleep quality for caregivers of patients with advanced cancer: a randomized controlled trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Trial
- A randomized trial of I-SLEEP: A patient education and empowerment intervention on inpatient sleep duration and medical sleep disruptions.Journal of hospital medicine · 2026Trial
- Intraoperative Dexmedetomidine Infusion Improved Postoperative Sleep Quality and Melatonin Secretion in Patients Undergoing Elective Thoracoscopic Lung Surgery: A Prospective, Randomized Study.Nature and science of sleep · 2024Trial
- Sound and light levels in intensive care units in a large urban hospital in the United States.Chronobiology international · 2023Trial
- [Ultrasound-guided stellate ganglion block improves sleep quality in elderly patients early after thoracoscopic surgery for lung cancer: a randomized controlled study].Nan fang yi ke da xue xue bao = Journal of Southern Medical University · 2022Trial
- Analysis of Preferred Music of Mechanically Ventilated Intensive Care Unit Patients Enrolled in a Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2022Trial
- The Impact of Morning Surgery or Afternoon Surgery on Postoperative Sleep Quality and Melatonin Levels of Elderly Patients: A Prospective, Randomized Study.Nature and science of sleep · 2022Trial
- Effects of Patient-Directed Interactive Music Therapy on Sleep Quality in Postoperative Elderly Patients: A Randomized-Controlled Trial.Nature and science of sleep · 2020Trial
- Impact of earplugs and eye mask on sleep in critically ill patients: a prospective randomized study.Critical care (London, England) · 2017Trial
- Trial
- The effectiveness of sound-based interventions on promoting sleep quality in hospitalized patients: A systematic review.iScience · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of Non-Pharmacological Interventions for the Prevention of Postoperative Delirium in Critically Ill Adult Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2026Review
- Non-pharmacological ICU nursing interventions and melatonin concentrations: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Perioperative auditory stimulation in the recovery of patients receiving surgical care: a narrative review.Perioperative medicine (London, England) · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionIntensive care unit (ICU) environmental factors such as noise and light have been cited as important causes of sleep deprivation in critically ill patients. Previous studies indicated that using earplugs and eye masks can improve REM sleep in healthy subjects in simulated ICU environment, and improve sleep quality in ICU patients. This study aimed to determine the effects of using earplugs and eye masks with relaxing background music on sleep, melatonin and cortisol levels in ICU patients.
methodsFifty patients who underwent a scheduled cardiac surgery and were expected to stay at least 2 nights in Cardiac Surgical ICU (CSICU) were included. They were randomized to sleep with or without earplugs and eye masks combined with 30-minute relaxing music during the postoperative nights in CSICU. Urine was analyzed for nocturnal melatonin and cortisol levels. Subjective sleep quality was evaluated using the Chinese version of Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (a visual analog scale, ranging 0-100).
resultsData from 45 patients (20 in intervention group, 25 in control group) were analyzed. Significant differences were found between groups in depth of sleep, falling asleep, awakenings, falling asleep again after awakening and overall sleep quality (P < 0.05). Perceived sleep quality was better in the intervention group. No group differences were found in urinary melatonin levels and cortisol levels for the night before surgery, and the first and second nights post-surgery (P > 0.05). The urinary melatonin levels of the first and second postoperative nights were significantly lower than those of the night before surgery (P = 0.01). The opposite pattern was seen with urinary cortisol levels (P = 0.00).
conclusionThis combination of non-pharmacological interventions is useful for promoting sleep in ICU adult patients; however, any influence on nocturnal melatonin levels and cortisol level may have been masked by several factors such as the timing of surgery, medication use and individual differences. Larger scale studies would be needed to examine the potential influences of these factors on biological markers and intervention efficacy on sleep.
trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR-IOR-14005511 . Registered 21 November 2014.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.