Effects of Sauna Bathing on Sleep, Mood and Stress

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: Recruiting
• Conditions: Healthy
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Sauna Bathing

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 40
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Poland
  • Kraków, Poland, 31-571
    • Recruiting
    • University School of Physical Education in Cracow
    • Contact: Anna Radon; Phone Number: 48 12 6831142; Email: anna.radon@awf.krakow.pl

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• 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

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
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

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Objective Sleep - Time in bed	Total time spent in bed during the night assessed by sleep radar	5 weeks
Objective Sleep - Sleep-onset latency	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	Total sleep time obtained from sleep onset to time at wake-up assessed by sleep radar	5 weeks
Objective Sleep - Light sleep	Total amount of time in light sleep assessed by sleep radar	5 weeks
Objective Sleep - Deep sleep	Total amount of time in deep sleep assessed by sleep radar	5 weeks
Objective Sleep - REM sleep	Total amount of time in REM sleep assessed by sleep radar	5 weeks
Objective Sleep - Sleep efficiency	The percentage of total sleep time to lights off and leaving bed assessed by sleep radar	5 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Subjective Sleep Quality assessed by Karolinska Sleep Diary		5 weeks
Stress level assessed by VAS scale	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)	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	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

• Sponsor: University School of Physical Education, Krakow, Poland
• Collaborators: University of Bergen

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 20, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 1, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 4, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 4, 2023
• First Posted (Estimated): November 9, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): November 9, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 4, 2023
• Last Verified: November 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID 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