The Effect of Using Eye Masks and Earplugs on Intensive Care Patients Quality of Sleep and Vital Signs

BACKGROUND: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients with severe health problems experience a high rate of sleep deprivation that harms their psychological and physiological health. Environmental factors are considered to be the greatest cause of sleep deprivation in the ICU, and noise and light are leading among these factors. This study aimed to investigate the effect of eye masks and earplugs on the sleep quality and vital signs of conscious ICU patients. METHODS: This study used a quasi-experimental, in similar groups, pretest-posttest design with a control group. The Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (RCSQ) was used to collect data, and vital signs were recorded every 2 hours. On day 1, standard care was provided to the experimental group (n = 32), and they were provided with eye masks and earplugs on day 2. The control group (n = 32) was provided with standard care on both days. Chi-square, t, and McNemar and McNemar-Bowker tests were used to analyze the data. Multiple regression analysis was used for predictive analysis. RESULTS: The RCSQ mean (SD) pretest and posttest scores were 50.21 (16.02) and 68.50 (17.57), respectively, for the experimental group and 55.34 (16.62) and 49.03 (15.53), respectively, for the control group. In the experimental group, the posttest RCSQ score was significantly higher than the pretest RCSQ score (P < .01). No differences in vital signs were observed in the control group. All the vital signs were found to be similar in the experimental group, except for the mean daily pulse rate. CONCLUSION: The use of earplugs and eye masks may help reduce sleep deprivation. Eye masks and earplugs can be used by nurses to improve the sleep quality of patients in ICUs.