Natural Sounds in the Management of Fatigue and Quality of Sleep in Hemodialysis Patients: A Double-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Fatigue and poor sleep quality are known to be common problems and factors a"ecting the quality of life and mortality of hemodialysis patients. There is insu"icient information about the role of natural sounds in fatigue and sleep quality in hemodialysis patients. This study aims to assess the impact of listening to natural sounds on fatigue and sleep quality in hemodialysis patients. Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 82 hemodialysis patients were selected purposefully and assigned into 2 study groups (exposed to natural sound and control) equally by the random minimization method. The Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used for data collection before and a#er the inter vention. Data were analyzed using so#ware SPSS version 22, using Shapiro–Wilk, Fisher exact, Chi-square, Mann–Whitney U, independent t-test, paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank at the 95% CI. Results: Results indicated that the demographic characteristics of the study groups were similar. In intragroup compari sons in the intervention group, the median ± interquartile range of global PSQI decreased significantly from 9 ± 3 at baseline to 7 ± 3 a#er the intervention (P = .001), and the mean ± SD of the MFI score decreased significantly from 70.05 ± 10.39 at baseline to 61.68 ± 8.55 a#er the intervention (P = .001). In intergroup comparison, the global PSQI (P = 1.000) and MFI (P = .154) scores of the study groups were the same at baseline. However, the intervention group had a significantly a lower global PSQI score (P = .001) and higher MFI (P = .024) scores a#er the intervention. Conclusion: The natural sounds could improve the fatigue and quality of sleep in hemodialysis patients. Cite this article as: Saharkhiz A, Ansari Jaberi A, Negahban Bonabi T. Natural sounds in the management of fatigue and quality of sleep in hemodialysis patients: A double-blinded randomized controlled trial. Turk J Nephrol. 2025;34(2):111-116.