Volume 28, Issue 154, December 2024

Weighted blanket – a successful therapeutic tool or solely an effective marketing product? A literature review

Anna Bieda^1♦, Arkadiusz Zaremba², Marta Borecka³, Karolina Stachyra⁴, Julia Beata Krasnodębska⁵, Mateusz Leśniewski⁵, Maciej Wyskok⁶, Michał Kluska⁷, Przemysław Kwiatka³, Karolina Hanusz³

¹Mazovian Bródnowski Hospital, Ludwika Kondratowicza 8, 03-242 Warsaw, Poland
²Scanmed Rudolf Weigl Hospital, Sosnowa 16, 42-290 Blachownia, Poland
³National Medical Institute of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, Wołoska 137, 02-507 Warsaw, Poland
⁴1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Warsaw, plac Sokratesa Starynkiewicza 1, 02-015 Warsaw, Poland
⁵Czerniakowski Hospital, Stępińska 19/25, 00-739 Warsaw, Poland
⁶Academy of Silesia, Rolna 43, 40-555 Katowice, Poland
⁷Samodzielny Publiczny Szpital Kliniczny im. prof. W. Orłowskiego CMKP, Czerniakowska 231, 00-416 Warsaw, Poland

^♦Corresponding Author
Mazovian Bródnowski Hospital, Ludwika Kondratowicza 8, 03-242 Warsaw, Poland

ABSTRACT

Weighted blankets have recently gained widespread attention as a readily available, economically favorable, and well-tolerated tool. They promise to improve sleep quality and reduce symptoms of multiple stress-related disorders. Weighted blankets help regulate sympathetic and parasympathetic arousal through deep-pressure stimulation. Their use has been positively correlated with sleep efficacy and anxiety reduction in various populations. Weighted blanket use is associated with a reduced need for sleep medications in some populations, as well as a reduction in morphine use in acute trauma patients. Effects on both chronic and acute pain have been noted. Weighted blankets proved to be a successful tool in reducing anxiety before and during medical procedures, improving their tolerance and safety for both the patient and health workers. Weighted blankets are a safe and feasible tool that may help manage anxiety, improve sleep quality, and relieve acute and chronic pain. They are a potentially beneficial adjuvant tool in hospital settings. Populations benefiting from weighted blankets include patients with ASD, ADHD, and other psychiatric diagnoses. More high-quality, large-scale studies are necessary.

Keywords: Anxiety, pain, sleep, weighted blanket

Medical Science, 2024, 28, e155ms3477

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi.v28i154.e155ms3477

Published: 27 December 2024