The use of eye pillow (aroma hot-pack) as an alternative non-pharmacological approach in remediating chronic psychophysiological insomnia symptoms; a subjective and polysomnography-informed evaluation

Document Type : Short Communication

Authors

1 Department of Neuroscience, School of Advanced Medical Sciences and Technologies, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

2 Research and Development Section, Arnica Group, Tehran, Iran

3 Department of Neuroscience, School of Advanced Medical Sciences and Technologies, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

4 Brain, Cognition and Behavior unit (NSL), Department of Neuroscience, School of Advanced Medical Sciences and Technologies, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

5 Provost, Techno India NJR Institute of Technology, Udaipur-313003, Rajasthan, India

Abstract

Introduction: Psychophysiological insomnia (PPI) is a prevalent condition with much of its treatment solutions revolving around medication therapy. Despite that, many patients prefer nonpharmacological therapies for PPI. We were therefore prompted to report our clinical observations in a cohort of PPI cases who used the eye-pillow (aroma hot-pack or AHP) for 3 months as an alternative solution to mitigate insomnia symptoms.
Methods: This cohort comprised 52 sequentially and conveniently recruited PPI patients who received bedtime AHP plus sleep hygiene recommendations for 77±6 nights with no concurrent pharmacological treatment. The Petersburg's sleep quality index (PSQI) and Petersburg's Insomnia Rating Scale (PIRS) scores and overnight polysomnography (PSG) test results were documented at baseline and week 12 in an accredited sleep disorders laboratory. We comparatively analyzed changes in the outcome measures pre- and post-treatment.
Results: The primary outcome measures in this single arm observational study was subjective sleep quality parameters as well as changes in polysomnographic sleep biomarameters following a roughly 12 weeks of nightly use of aroma hot-pack (AHP) at bedtime. Patients’ mean adherence to therapy was 84.7±3.5%. The PSQI and PIRS scores were significantly decreased after intervention (4.89±1.88, and 16.5±2.1) from baseline (10.67±4.09, and 38.7±3.3) (p <0.0001). The PSG data also revealed significantly improved N1 sleep latency, number of wakes after sleep onset (WASO) and sleep efficiency at week 12 as compared to the baseline.
Conclusion: It appears that the use of AHP can be considered as a low-cost and easily applicable alternative treatment to medication therapy in uncomplicated PPI cases.

Keywords

Journal of Advanced Medical Sciences and Applied Technologies

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 22 August 2021

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