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

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

40

Phase

  • 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

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
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
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

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

University School of Physical Education, Krakow, Poland

Collaborators

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)

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

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.

Subscribe