Effects of MBSR therapy on negative emotions, fatigue, and sleep quality in “post-ICU patients”: A randomized controlled clinical trial protocol

BACKGROUND: Survivors of intensive care unit (ICU) transfer to the common ward are often accompanied by psychological distress, negative emotions, fatigue, and sleep disturbances that affect recovery. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has achieved reliable results in improving physical and mental health. However, no clinical study has been conducted to evaluate the effects of MBSR on negative emotions, fatigue and sleep quality of patients who survived ICU and were transferred to general wards. METHODS: This is a prospective randomized controlled trial (RCT) examining the effects of MBSR on negative emotions, fatigue, and sleep quality in inpatients transferred from ICU to general ward. Participants were randomly divided into the treatment group and the control group in a ratio of 1:1. On the basis of the same nursing plan and health education, the treatment group received MBSR therapy, while the control group received no other interventions, and all the patients were followed up for 3 months after 2 weeks of continuous treatment. The indicators included negative mood indicators [Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS)], fatigue index [Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI)], and sleep quality index [Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)]. Finally, SPSS 20.0 software was used for statistical analysis of the data. DISCUSSION: This study will evaluate the effects of MBSR on negative emotions, fatigue, and sleep quality in hospitalized patients transferred from ICU to general ward. The results of this study will provide a reference for MBSR to improve psychological distress in ICU survivors transferred to general ward. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study protocol was registered in the Open Science Framework (OSF) (registration number: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/PD7SU).