• Li-Na Wang, Hong Tao, Yue Zhao, Yu-Qiu Zhou, and Xiu-Rong Jiang.
• Li-Na Wang, PhD, RN Lecturer, School of Nursing, Medical College of Chifeng University, Inner Mongolia, China. Hong Tao, PhD, RN Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Yue Zhao PhD, RN Professor, School of Nursing, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China. Yu-Qiu Zhou, MD, RN Professor, School of Nursing, Harbin Medical University Daqing Campus, Daqing, China. Xiu-Rong Jiang, MD, RN Professor, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Daqing, China.
• J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2014 Jul 1; 29 (4): 367-76.

BackgroundClinical studies have shown that biofeedback-assisted relaxation positively influences the treatment outcomes of sleep disturbance. However, there are only few studies reporting the timing of relaxation training initiation, and the relationships between the timing of initiation and the effectiveness of relaxation remain unclear.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to determine the optimal timing for initiating nurse-led biofeedback-assisted relaxation on hospitalized coronary heart disease patients with sleep disturbance.MethodsAn experimental pretest and repeated posttest design was used to compare the effectiveness of nurse-led biofeedback-assisted relaxation. A total of 128 patients with coronary heart disease were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups: morning group, night group, morning-night group, or control group. Outcome measures included self-report of sleep-related indicators, the scores of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Zung's Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and the dosage of sleep medication used. A 2-way analysis of variance and a simple effect test were used to analyze the differences among the 4 groups.ResultsNo significant differences could be detected at baseline. Compared with the control group, the nurse-led biofeedback-assisted relaxation yielded a greater benefit for patients in the 3 intervention groups. Group and time factors (pretest-protest) could explain the variation in the effectiveness of this program (main effect P < .01). There were statistical differences among the groups: patients in the night group (FSOL = 33.15, P < .001; FTST = 17.99, P < .001; FSE = 10.26, P = .002; FPSQI = 27.38, P < .001; FSAS = 54.39, P < .001, respectively) and in the morning-night group (FSOL = 33.62, P < .001; FTST = 34.13, P < .001; FSE = 24.04, P < .001; FPSQI = 31.26, P < .001; FSAS = 73.93, P < .001, respectively) had slightly shorter sleep latency, experienced fewer awakenings, reported higher sleep quality, and used significantly fewer sleep medications than the morning group did (F = 32.97, P < .001).ConclusionsThe timing of the initiation of nurse-led biofeedback-assisted relaxation was 1 of the factors affecting the effectiveness of relaxation. Relaxation training either at night or in the morning-night combination could effectively enhance sleep quality and decrease the need for of sleep medications in hospitalized patients with sleep disturbance.

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