Effects of Sauna Bathing on Sleep, Mood and Stress

November 4, 2023 updated by: University School of Physical Education, Krakow, Poland
Sauna bathing is a popular, low-cost, and easily accessible type of whole-body thermotherapy that has been used for social, religious, health, and hygienic reasons for thousands of years. There is strong evidence to support the various physiological and psychological benefits of sauna bathing. The positive effects of regular sauna use have been explained by a number of mechanisms of action, including increased cardiac output, reduced peripheral vascular resistance and other physiological changes in cardiovascular parameters such as decreased systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure. Additionally, the psychological impact of sauna bathing may occur due to a combination of factors that include the release of endorphins, relaxation, placebo effects, and psychological and social interactions that likely occur around frequent sauna activity. Taken together, it is possible that acute and regular sauna bathing may impact sleep quality.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
40

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Poland
      • Kraków, Poland, 31-571
        • Recruiting
        • University School of Physical Education in Cracow
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • good general health assessed by physician
  • written consent to participate

Exclusion Criteria:

  • medication or dietary supplements, which could potentially impact the study outcomes
  • history of sleep or neurological disorders
  • regular sauna use
  • professional athlete
  • shift worker

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
No Intervention: Control Group
Experimental: Sauna Group
Behavioral: Sauna Bathing
Participants will take part in 9 evening sauna bathing session over the course of 3 weeks

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Objective Sleep - Time in bed
Time Frame: 5 weeks
Total time spent in bed during the night assessed by sleep radar
5 weeks
Objective Sleep - Sleep-onset latency
Time Frame: 5 weeks
The time it takes from when the participant intends to go to sleep and actually starts to sleep assessed by sleep radar
5 weeks
Objective Sleep - Total sleep time
Time Frame: 5 weeks
Total sleep time obtained from sleep onset to time at wake-up assessed by sleep radar
5 weeks
Objective Sleep - Light sleep
Time Frame: 5 weeks
Total amount of time in light sleep assessed by sleep radar
5 weeks
Objective Sleep - Deep sleep
Time Frame: 5 weeks
Total amount of time in deep sleep assessed by sleep radar
5 weeks
Objective Sleep - REM sleep
Time Frame: 5 weeks
Total amount of time in REM sleep assessed by sleep radar
5 weeks
Objective Sleep - Sleep efficiency
Time Frame: 5 weeks
The percentage of total sleep time to lights off and leaving bed assessed by sleep radar
5 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Subjective Sleep Quality assessed by Karolinska Sleep Diary
Time Frame: 5 weeks
5 weeks
Stress level assessed by VAS scale
Time Frame: 5 weeks
VAS scale is a 11-item self-report measure for stress. Answers range from 0 (no stress) to 10 (worst stress).
5 weeks
Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)
Time Frame: baseline, after 1,3,6,9 sauna bathing, after 5 weeks
The PANAS is a 20-item self-report measure for positive and negative affect.
baseline, after 1,3,6,9 sauna bathing, after 5 weeks
Mood
Time Frame: baseline, after 1,3,6,9 sauna bathing, after 5 weeks
Mood Adjective Check List (UMACL) will be used to assess mood (Mathews, Chamberlain & Jones, 1990, adapted to Polish by Ewa Goryńska, 2005). UMACL measures mood in three dimensions of the core affect: Tense Arousal (minimum value: 9, maximum value: 36), Energetic Arousal (minimum value: 10, maximum value: 40), and Hedonic Tone (minimum value: 10, maximum value: 40), with higher scores representing higher levels of the mood dimensions.
baseline, after 1,3,6,9 sauna bathing, after 5 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University School of Physical Education, Krakow, Poland

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
University of Bergen

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
October 20, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
May 1, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
May 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 4, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 4, 2023

First Posted (Estimated)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 9, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
November 9, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 4, 2023

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
November 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • AWF_SKN_1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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