Clinical trial · Interventional
Electrical Grounding and Sleep Quality in Hospitalised Patients With Cancer
Effects of Body Grounding Patches on Sleep Quality in Hospitalised Cancer Patients, and the Association Between Body Voltage, the Bedroom Electrical Environment and Sleep Quality: a Randomised, Sham-Controlled Trial
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
Sleep disturbance is one of the most common and most persistent symptoms in patients admitted for cancer care, and the options available during a short hospital stay are limited. The human body is electrically conductive, so an alternating potential - known as body voltage - is induced on the skin by mains wiring and appliances near the bed. Body voltage can be lowered by connecting the body to earth, and higher body voltage has been reported to be associated with lower vagal (parasympathetic) tone. This randomised, sham-controlled trial tested whether nightly electrical grounding improves sleep quality in hospitalised patients with cancer who also have clinically significant insomnia. Participants wore a hydrogel patch on the forehead connected by a cord either to a true earth connection or to an externally identical cord that did not complete a conductive circuit. Grounding was applied on two consecutive nights in the oncology ward and then nightly at home until the outpatient follow-up visit. Body voltage was measured before and during grounding in both settings, so that the trial could verify objectively whether the intervention achieved its intended physical effect. Sleep quality, mood, somatic symptoms and daytime sleepiness were assessed by validated self-report questionnaires.
Conditions
Conditions (8)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer | Malignant Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Environmental Factor | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Neoplasms | Neoplasm | ONTOLOGY_EXACT | 0.90 |
| Non-invasive Intervention | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Non-pharmacological Intervention | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Sleep Quality | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Supportive Intervention | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (2)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earthing patch; grounding electrode | Device | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Sham (No Treatment) | Device | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- grounding
- description
- A hydrogel patch applied to the forehead is connected by a conductive cord to a true earth connection (the earth terminal of the bedside mains outlet in hospital, or a metal window frame at home). Applied from 21:00 to 06:00 on two consecutive nights in the ward and then nightly at home for at least six hours until the outpatient follow-up visit.
- interventionNames
- Device: Earthing patch; grounding electrode
- type
- SHAM_COMPARATOR
- label
- sham grounding
- description
- A hydrogel conductive patch applied to the participants' forehead skin is connected by an electrically 'non-conductive' cord to a true earth connection (the earth terminal of the bedside mains outlet in hospital, or a metal window frame at home). Applied from 21:00 to 06:00 on two consecutive nights in the hospital ward and then nightly at home for at least six hours for 7 days before the outpatient follow-up visit.
- interventionNames
- Device: Sham (No Treatment)
Primary outcomes (4)
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 20 Years
- Maximum age
- 79 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Inpatients of the oncology ward aged 20 to 79 years * Subjective complaint of insomnia, with a Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index global score of 10 or greater at baseline * Histologically or clinically confirmed cancer of any stage from 0 to IV * Intact forehead skin permitting application of a grounding patch * Scheduled hospital admission of more than three days * Able and willing to give written informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * Baseline Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index global score of 9 or less * Known or suspected pregnancy * History of alcohol dependence with less than two months of abstinence * Recent use of an indoor grounding product during sleep for more than one month * Habitually walking barefoot outdoors for more than one hour a day for more than one month * Unable or unwilling to complete the study procedures
References
Publications (0)
Data not yet available