Stress balls may ease pain and improve sleep in critically ill patients
NCT ID NCT07207837
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tested whether using a stress ball can reduce pain, improve sleep quality, and stabilize vital signs in critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Sixty adult patients who were awake and able to communicate were randomly assigned to use a stress ball or receive standard care. The stress ball is a simple, inexpensive, non-drug tool that may help relax muscles and lower stress hormones.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- stress ball
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer a simple, low-cost, side-effect-free way to help ICU patients feel less pain and sleep better.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, single-center trial with only 60 patients. The results may not apply to all ICU patients, and the effect might be small or hard to measure.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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60 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Jan 2025
- Finished
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Apr 2025
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients who agreed to participate in the study, who were older than 18 years of age, who could speak and understand Turkish, who had been treated in the ICU for at least 48 hours, who had a score of 15 on the Glasgow Coma Scale and a score of 2 on the Ramsey Sedation Scale, who were extubated, who had not received intravenous sedation and anaesthetic drugs for the last 12 hours, who could communicate meaningfully, and who did not have a physical disability in squeezing the stress ball were included in the study. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients using antihypertensive, beta blockers and similar drugs, experiencing situations that would cause them to leave the study (death, transfer to another unit, discharge or unwillingness to continue the study, etc.), receiving inotropic treatment (dopamine, steradine and others), patients with hearing and vision problems, patients treated with a diagnosis of sleep disorder, patients with a diagnosis of depression and anxiety disorder and treated with this diagnosis, patients with analgesic treatment in routine treatment were excluded from the study.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Giresun University Health Sciences Faculty
Giresun, 28340, Turkey (Türkiye)