Effect of virtual reality meditation on sleep quality of intensive care unit patients: A randomised controlled trial

This study aimed to investigate the effect of virtual reality meditation on sleep quality of intensive care unit patients.

This randomised controlled trial included 48 cardiac intensive care unit patients in a university hospital in Korea randomly allocated to the experimental (24) and the control group (24). For the experimental group, meditation was provided for 30 minutes using a head-mounted display for virtual reality, on the evening of the admission day.

The sleep quality of both groups was measured by self-report using Sleep Scale A and the activity tracker FitBit Charge 2.

The experimental group reported significantly higher subjective sleep quality than did the control group. Activity tracker assessment indicated that total sleep time and light sleep time did not differ between the groups. However, the awake time was shorter, deep sleep time was longer and sleep efficiency was significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group.

Virtual reality meditation positively affected the sleep quality of intensive care unit patients. Critical care nurses should consider using virtual reality meditation as a nursing intervention to improve the patient's sleep quality.