Effect of ear plugs & eye mask on sleep among ICU patients: A randomized control trial

Background: Disturbed sleep and sleep deprivation is common among ICU patients. Use of eye masks and ear plugs may be a valuable to patients attempting to sleep in intensive care units. This randomized control trial aims to assess the efficacy of ear plugs and eye mask in improving the sleep pattern among critically-ill patients. Method: The study was conducted in January 2014 in selected ICUs of a tertiary care hospital. 100 patients were selected by convenience sampling and were randomized to control and experimental group using parallel group design. The perception of patient’s sleep with and without usage of ear plugs and eye mask was evaluated Using Verran and Snyder-Halpern Sleep Scale consists 16 items that include three main sleep sub scales: disturbance, effectiveness, and supplementation. Results: The study revealed statistically significant difference in mean scores among experimental and control group as per sleep fragmentation (14.6±3.44 vs 4.19±3.58), sleep latency (6.05±1.88 vs 1.70±1.66), sleep quality (10.5±2.52 vs 2.14±2.29), sleep length (8.95±2.47 vs 2.36±2.46), sleep supplementation (11.8±3.26 vs 4.10±2.33). Conclusion: Findings of the study revealed that ear plugs and eye mask has significantly increased the quality of sleep among critically ill patients at all three subscales (disturbance, effectiveness, and supplementation).