Family voice recordings tested as delirium therapy in ICU
NCT ID NCT07218484
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This pilot study tests whether playing recorded messages from family and friends—called VoiceLove therapy—can help manage delirium in surgical ICU patients. Fifteen participants will listen to reorientation and calming messages for 25 minutes, twice a day, for three days. The main goal is to see if this approach is feasible and acceptable, not yet to prove it works.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- VoiceLove digital therapy (recorded messages from family and friends)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could point toward a simple, non-drug way to reduce confusion and distress in ICU patients.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small pilot study (15 people) with no control group, so results may not be generalizable. It only tests feasibility, not effectiveness.
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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About 15 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Aug 2025
- Expected to finish
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Jan 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- 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.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Men and women aged ≥18 years admitted to the hospital after major surgery (elective or non-elective) require a hospital stay of at least five days following surgery, including an ICU stay for at least three days after the surgical procedure 2. At risk of delirium, as per ICU delirium risk score or existing diagnosis 3. Family members or caregivers involved in patient care at least 18 years of age. 4. Clinical team members caring for the patients Exclusion Criteria: * Patients in the ICU who have 1. a history of severe mental illness, 2. admission for a drug overdose, 3. severe vertigo, 4. a history of severe postoperative nausea and vomiting, 5. hearing or visual impairments, 6. preexisting severe dementia (Montreal Cognitive Assessment Score \<15), 7. neurological surgeries.
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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.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Houston Methodist Hospital
RECRUITINGHouston, Texas, 77030, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Can sensory therapy calm Dementia-Related agitation in hospitals?
- A new care routine aims to shield aging hearts and minds in the ICU