Investigating the effect of implementing a sensory stimulation program by family members on delirium status of brain injury patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit: A randomized clinical trial

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Delirium is the most common psychological disorder in brain injury patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU), one of the leading causes of which can be sensory deprivation or sensory overload. This study aimed to determine the effect of implementing a sensory stimulation program by family members on the delirium status of ICU-hospitalized brain injury patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 66 brain injury patients hospitalized in the ICUs were assigned to intervention and control groups using stratified random sampling. For the intervention group, a sensory stimulation program was implemented by family members for 1 h a day during the ICU stay. The control group received routine care. Patients' delirium status was assessed daily using the confusion assessment method for the intensive care unit (CAM-ICU). Data were analyzed by the SPSS software version 22, using Chi-square, independent t-test, and Binary logistic regression model tests, at a significance level of 0.05. RESULTS: Odds of delirium Incidence in the intervention group was 94% lower than in the control group (OR = 0.057, 95% CI 0.017, 0.19, P = 0.001). There is a significant difference between the two groups in terms of length of delirium (P = 0.001), stay in ICU (P = 0.001) and mechanical ventilation (P = 0.001). The mean of all three variables in the intervention group was lower than the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Implementing of sensory stimulation program by the family members, as a non-pharmacological method, can reduce the incidence of delirium in brain injury patients admitted to ICU.

Decreasing the incidence of delirium via multi-sensory stimulation in patients receiving mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit: A protocol for a randomized feasibility study

“…Researchers [ 13 , 14 ] used auditory speech stimulation twice daily for 30 min, which reduced the incidence of confusion in the ICU to 24 % and the average duration of confusion to 39 %. A 30-min daily session of auditory and visual stimulation [ 15 ] for one week reduced the duration and severity of delirium; Mohammad A [ 16 ] used the five-sense stimulation programme, which includes auditory, visual, tactile, olfactory and motor stimulation, for 1 h per day during ICU stay to effectively reduce the incidence of delirium in brain-injured patients admitted to ICU. Its potential mechanism of action is to provide visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile and other sensory stimulation, activate the unimodal sensory area and associated area of the brain, regulate various biological mechanisms, increase the activity of the cerebral cortex, increase attention and response to stimulation, effectively promote cognition and restore sensory deprivation, and prevent delirium in patients [ 17 , 18 ].…”