ReviewSleep medicine: X2025
Impact and efficacy of sound machine on sleep in hospitalized adults: A systematic review.
Review in Sleep medicine: X, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Sleep in hospitalized adults is impaired due to several reasons. Non-pharmacological approaches should be attempted first before considering medications to treat insomnia. Environmental noise levels in the hospital are also a major culprit that might result in disturbed sleep. While limiting any disturbance or sound during sleeping hours is crucial, it might not be completely feasible in the acute care setting. Sound machines that deliver a masking noise such as white noise are reported to mask these environmental noises and promote sleep. We aim to analyze the efficacy and safety of sound machines on sleep efficiency in hospitalized adults. Methods: A systematic review of all published literature was conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EBSCO CINAHL, Google scholar, APA PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus from inception to August 13, 2024. All studies that reported sound machine-based interventions on sleep efficiency in hospitalized adults were included. Sleep efficiency and other sleep related outcomes as total sleep time, latency, awakenings, and total sleep score were noted. Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 for RCTs was used to evaluate study quality. This study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42024595293). Results: A total of 1920 studies were screened, of which 74 were selected for full text review. Seven RCT studies ( Conclusions: White-noise and other similar masking noises seem to improve sleep efficiency in hospitalized adults, with good tolerability. Only limited studies report the efficacy and demonstrate wide heterogeneity in the duration of masking noise use, varied inclusion criteria, and outcome measurement scales. Larger studies analyzing the hospitalized patient population type, across different units, to identify the best patient population who would benefit from these masking sounds are needed.
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Registered trials
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