To Examine the Effect of a View of Nature on Patient's Stress and Anxiety

NCT01667705 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: EMCSkyceiling01032012
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 120
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

• Rationale: Recently, research that demonstrates a clear relationship between the built healthcare environment and the health and wellbeing of patients has come available. Patients in a CT scan suite are usually anxious. The environment has been shown to lower stress; a painting or piece of art for example, can capture and hold attention and thereby lower negative thoughts and evoke positive emotions. Sights of nature have demonstrated to be especially effective in recuperating from stress, presumably because the human brain has evolved in a natural environment. The current study will investigate the effects of exposure to nature in the CT scan suite. A SkyCeiling, a large, slightly illuminated, photographic illusion of a real sky view is placed above the CT scan. The main hypothesis of this study is that a sky view will lead to a lower level of anxiety in the CT scan suite.
• Objective: The primary objective of this study is to examine the effect of a view of nature on a patient's stress and anxiety. Secondary objectives are to study the effects of a view of nature on a patient's environmental appraisals of the CT suite, satisfaction with the provided service, and trust in the healthcare provider.

Conditions

Stress; Anxiety

Keywords

Stress; Anxiety; Skyceiling; Nature

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• stress and anxiety measured with questionnaires and physiological parameters

  30 minutes During CT-scan visit

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• environmental appraisals, mood, satisfaction with the provided service, time perception, and trust in the healthcare provider.

  30 minutes during CT-scan visit

Study Arms (2)

SkyCeiling during CT-Suite visit

Patients in the trial group are exposed to the SkyCeiling during their procedure.

No SkyCeiling during CT-Suite visit

Patients in the trial group are not exposed to the SkyCeiling during their procedure.

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 85 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

120 Out-patients, age 18-85, who are scheduled to undergo a thorax and/or abdomen CT scan with intravenous contrast.

You may qualify if:

• Age 18-85
• Able to read and write Dutch
• Able to observe the visual stimuli applied to the ceiling, i.e. normal vision or corrected to normal vision.

You may not qualify if:

• Patients who have undergone a CT scan after the SkyCeiling was installed (this is a rare event) are excluded. This because of the fact that these patients might remember the look of the CT unit either with or without the SkyCeiling and could thus become more aware of the intended anxiety-reducing effect of the intervention, or the lack thereof if randomized to the control group.
• Patients who undergo a second scan during the run time of this study (this will be a rare event) will not be included a second time. The data of their first scan remain included.
• Patients who lie with their face down or are otherwise incapable of looking at the ceiling will be excluded.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Erasmus Medical Center: lead
• Technical University of Twente: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

ErasmusMC

Rotterdam, South Holland, 3015CE, Netherlands

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Anxiety Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Karin Tanja-Dijkstra, docter

  University of Twente

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Berend Koudstaal

  Erasmus Medical Center

  STUDY CHAIR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: CASE ONLY
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Coordinating investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 1, 2012
• First Posted: August 17, 2012
• Study Start: March 1, 2012
• Primary Completion: December 1, 2013
• Study Completion: December 1, 2013
• Last Updated: November 30, 2016

Record last verified: 2016-11

Locations

NL (1)