gms | German Medical Science

Background and Purpose: Disorders in the sleep pattern are common symptoms reported by patients undergoing cardiac surgery. However, there isn’t conclusive evidence about the best non-pharmacological interventions that can be adopted in care nursing practice. To analyze the evidence available in the literature about non-pharmacological interventions for the treatment of disorders related to the sleep pattern in patients undergoing cardiac surgery

Methods: Systematic review of the literature that followed the recommendations by the Cochrane Collaboration. Databases investigated were Pubmed, Cochrane, Lilacs, Scopus, Embase, Cinahl and PsycINFO. It was included the search in the “gray” literature using the bases ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations from the University of São Paulo, Evidence-Informed Policy Network (EVIPNet), Centre for Intellectual Production from the School of Medicine of the University of São Paulo, Brazilian registry of Clinical Trials and ClinicalTrials.gov, as well as the reference lists of the included studies

Results: Ten randomized controlled trials were included in the review. In the synthesis of the available evidence, it was found that non-pharmacological interventions were grouped into three main categories: four studies tested devices to minimize disruption of sleep and/or its induction; three clinical trials investigated the efficacy of relaxing techniques and three primary studies evaluated the effectiveness of educational interventions

Conclusions: Significant improvement in the scores for assessment of sleep was found in studies that tested interventions such as ear plugs, eye mask, muscle relaxation, posture training and relaxation, sound production and educational strategy