Coping with Anxiety During Chemotherapy: How Weighted Blankets Can Help
For many people, the period of chemotherapy is an emotional rollercoaster, accompanied by fear, uncertainty and stress. Worries about the treatment and the associated side effects can add additional stress to an already difficult phase of the illness. Amid these challenges, patients and medical staff often look for effective methods to ease anxiety and improve well-being during treatment. A study from Indiana University examined one possible solution: weighted blankets.
Participants: A total of 58 adult patients receiving outpatient chemotherapy infusions participated. The study included patients of different ages and genders, all of whom faced the challenge of chemotherapy treatment.
Procedure: Patients were randomly divided into two groups. One group received a weighted blanket during the first infusion, while the other group received standard care without a weighted blanket. For the second infusion, the groups were switched. Patients' anxiety was measured before and after using the weighted blanket using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults Form Y-1 (STAI-AD) and the Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety (VAS-A).
Results: The results of the study showed a significant reduction in anxiety after 30 minutes of using the weighted blanket compared to standard care alone. Interestingly, there were no significant differences in anxiety reduction based on patient weight classes. In addition, no serious side effects were noted from using the weighted blankets, and patients' vital signs were not significantly affected.
Fig. 1: Reduction in the patients' sense of anxiety during the infusion. A higher reduction means less perceived anxiety; in beige the reduction in anxiety without a weighted blanket during the infusion; in green the reduction in anxiety with a weighted blanket used during the infusion.
Conclusion: The study suggests that weighted blankets are a safe and effective treatment for reducing anxiety in patients receiving chemotherapy infusion, providing nurses with an immediate complementary strategy for anxiety reduction during treatment. These findings have great significance for clinical practice and demonstrate how easily accessible and non-invasive methods such as weighted blankets can help improve the well-being and treatment experience of patients during chemotherapy.
Would you like to try it out? Click here for the baenny weighted blanket: