Journal of Sleep Medicine & Disorders

CentralResearch Article

Positive Effects of a Weighted
Blanket on Insomnia*Corresponding author
Gaby Badre, SDS Kliniken, Vasaplatsen 8, 411 34
Gothenburg, Sweden, Tel: 46-31-107-780; Fax: 46-31-107781; Email:Submitted: 09 May 2015
Accepted: 22 May 2015
Published: 25 May 2015

Ackerley R1,2, Badre G1,2* and Olausson H1,2,3

Copyright

1© 2015 Badre et al.

Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
2
SDS Clinic, ESRS accredited Sleep Research Laboratory, Gothenburg, Sweden
3
Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Linköping, Sweden

OPEN ACCESS

Keywords

Abstract
Insomnia is a common occurrence and can have a negative impact on physiological,
psychological and social well-being. There is a need for simple, effective solutions toincrease sleep quality. It has been suggested that weighted blankets and vests canprovide a beneficial calming effect, especially in clinical disorders. Hence, we aimed
to investigate the effects of a chain weighted blanket on insomnia, using objective andsubjective measures. Objectively, we found that sleep bout time increased, as well as adecrease in movements of the participants, during weighted blanket use. Subjectively,
the participants liked sleeping with the blanket, found it easier to settle down to sleep
and had an improved sleep, where they felt more refreshed in the morning. Overall, we
found that when the participants used the weighted blanket, they had a calmer night’s
sleep. A weighted blanket may aid in reducing insomnia through altered tactile inputs,
thus may provide an innovative, non-pharmacological approach and complementary
tool to improve sleep quality.

ABBREVIATIONSANOVA: Analysis of Variance; ASD: Autism Spectrum
Disorders; BMI: Body Mass Index; ISI: Insomnia Severity Index;
KSS: Karolinska Sleepiness Scale; PSG: Polysomnography; REM:
Rapid Eye Movements; Karolinska Sleepiness Scale; TST: Total
Sleep Time; VAS: Visual Analog Scale; WASO: Wake after Sleep
Onset

INTRODUCTION

According to most epidemiological studies, up to a third of the
population in industrialized countries suffers from poor sleep [15]. This problem affects all categories of people from teenagers
to the elderly, and is increasing due to modern lifestyles andthe associated stressors, especially in cities. The impairment of
sleep has short- and long-term effects. It can lead to depression,
burn-out, psychosomatic disorders and addictions, as well asother serious health problems (e.g. metabolic, cardiovascular)[3,4,6,7]. It can affect professional lives (e.g. loss in productivity,
poor judgments, accidents, inadequate emotional reactions),
with great economic consequences. It can also have a negative
impact on social and family life. Pharmacological and behavioral(e.g. cognitive, relaxation) methods are commonly used to treat
sleep disorders. However, drugs are often addictive or haveside effects, and psychological/behavioral methods require long
treatment sessions and it may take time to achieve satisfactory
results. Hence, there is a need for additional, simpler methods topromote and maintain better sleep.

• Sleep• Insomnia• Treatment• Pressure• Touch• Blanket

The application of deep pressure, through for example
weighted vests and blankets, has been reported to produce acalming and relaxing effect in clinical conditions such as autism
spectrum disorders (ASD), attention-deficit hyperactivity
disorder, and pervasive developmental disorders [8-15]. Applying
deep pressure has been shown to be beneficial for children withhigh levels of anxiety or arousal [16] and deep pressure touch may
also alleviate anxiety (e.g. in dental environments and bipolar
disorder [17,18]). There are also anecdotal reports suggestingthat the elderly who suffer from anxiety and dementia may findrelief from deep pressure touch and many nursing homes areexperimenting with weighted blankets.
A weighted blanket that is more than 10% of a person’s bodyweight has been found to provide beneficial, calming effects [19].
Most of the research on weighted blankets has focused on theiruse in children with clinical disorders, such as ASD. However, themajority of these studies do not probe sleep objectively. To ourknowledge only one study has systematically investigated theuse of a weighted blanket during bedtime and this was in children
with ASD and severe sleep problems, using some objective
measures. The study found no increase in the total sleep time;
however, the blanket was favored by both the children and theirparents [20].
There is a need for systematic studies into the potential
benefits of weighted blankets for sleep, especially for adults andthose with insomnia. Hence, the aim of the present study was toinvestigate whether the use of a weighted blanket may have a

Cite this article: Ackerley R, Badre G, Olausson H (2015) Positive Effects of a Weighted Blanket on Insomnia. J Sleep Med Disord 2(3): 1022.

Badre et al. (2015)
Email:

Centralpositive impact on adults with sleeping problems, mainly chronic
insomnia.

MATERIALS AND METHODSIntervention

There are several weighted blankets on the market. For thisstudy we used a new type of chain-weighted blanket (Somna AB,
Stenkullen, Sweden), currently used both in nursing homes forthe elderly and in patients with ASD. The weight is provided by ametal chain construction, which is evenly distributed throughout
the blanket and provides constant tactile stimulation across the
body. The participant can choose to sleep with the chain or the
padding side of the blanket closest to their body (hence provide a
different sensation). They can also use an additional quilt, either
over or under the blanket. The blanket is weighted without being
thick, and the fabric is such that the blanket does not particularly
provide additional warmth. Three weights were available (6, 8
or 10 kg) and the participants could select the most comfortableone. The majority of the participants in the present study selected
the 8 kg blanket.

Study design

A repeated-measures study was undertaken in two clinicalsites in Sweden, over the course of a year. For each participant,the study lasted 4 weeks. There was no control group, as theparticipants were their own control, with baseline pre-test andpost-test measures. The study was approved by the EthicalCommittee of the Sahlgrenska Academy in Gothenburg and was
conducted according to the Declaration of Helsinki. Written,
informed consent was obtained from all the participants before
taking part and they were paid for their time. Prior to undertaking
the study, an effect size analysis was conducted to ascertain theapproximate number of participants required for significant
effects. This was based on statistical analyses from objective
and subjective results of a previous pilot study on 5 participants.
Cohen’s d was used to calculate an effect size of 0.75, with a powerof 0.8 (ratio 4:1 between type 1: type 2 errors); a minimum of 26
participants was required to gain statistical differences. Hence,
we aimed to recruit 30 participants to account for drop-out andtechnical failures, due to the complexity of the study and its
design.

Study population

The inclusion criteria were: participants’ of\genders, aged
20-66, complaining of chronic insomnia, which was defined asdifficulties in falling asleep and/or maintaining sleep for several
nights a week (> 3 days) for more than 3 months, and having
feelings of not being refreshed when waking up in the morning.
If they were on medication upon entering the study, this wascontinued throughout the trial period. Otherwise they had tobe healthy. The exclusion criteria were presence of illnessesor newly discovered problems (<6 months), for example, sleep
apnea, untreated metabolic disorders or high blood pressure.
The participants should not have changed any medication in theprior 4 weeks to commencing the study.
Participants were selected by advertising at the sleep clinics
and through leaflets on boards. A total of 33 healthy participants
J Sleep Med Disord 2(3): 1022 (2015)

complaining of chronic insomnia were recruited for the study;
31 completed the protocol (11 men, 20 women). For further
details about the participants, see Table 1. Prior to the study,
the participants also completed various questionnaires covering
environmental and lifestyle factors, including their health status,
irregularity in sleep-wake patterns and life style, variability ofsleep during the weekend, the presence of any sleep phase delay
or advance, their perception of sleep quality, and if they used any
medication.
The level of insomnia per participant was determinedaccording to the 7-item Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) [21], whichassesses the nature, severity, and impact of insomnia in theirlife. Each question is rated from 0 (no problem) to 4 (severe
problem), with the total possible score being 28. A score of lessthan7 reflects no clinically significant insomnia, 8-14 being subthreshold insomnia, while 15-21 represents moderate insomnia
and a score greater than 22 indicate severe insomnia. The
8-item Epworth Sleepiness Scale [22] was used to reflect any
daytime consequences of insomnia (i.e. daytime sleepiness). Thisconsisted of a questionnaire with answers ranging from 0 (nochance of dozing) to 3 (high chance of dozing) to give a total outof 24 points.

Procedures

After screening and consent, the eligible participants slept
for a week in their habitual environment, which consisted thepre-test baseline period. The following test period followed
consisted of two consecutive weeks during which the participant
used the weighted blanket every night. They pre-selected ablanket weight, but if they felt that it was too light or heavy, they
could change it after no more than two nights into the test. The
participant returned the blanket after these two test weeks andslept for one more week in their ordinary, habitual conditions(post-test period).

Methods for studying sleep patterns

The trial design included both objective (physiological) andsubjective (self-report) measures.

OBJECTIVE MEASURESContinuous
actigraphy(Actiwatch;
Cambridge
Neurotechnology Ltd, Cambridge, UK) and comprehensive
polysomnography (PSG) recordings, in the participants’ own
home, were obtained.
The actigraphy watch consisted of an accelerometer that wasworn on the same wrist continuously during the 4 week period.
Data were stored in the watch unit. Analyses of patterns andfrequencies of movements were done by validated algorithms forthe recognition of basic sleep-wake patterns. The participants’time-to-bed and waking-up time were reported in their sleep
diaries, which defined their sleep periods. The main analyses
were conducted on these sleep periods. The variables analyzed
included sleep latency, assumed sleep, total wake time, sleep
fragmentation index, number of bouts of immobile time andtheir frequency, as well as the number of sleep bouts and theirduration. We did not want to interfere with the ordinary lifestyleand activities of the participants, though we recommended that

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CentralTable 1: Details about the participants.

NumberMean ± SD

Range

Weight of blanket/weight of participant

31
11
20
31
11
20
31
11
20
31
11
20
31

No

47 ± 14 years
49 ± 15 years
43 ± 13 years
25.8 ± 5.2
27.1 ± 2.9
25.4 ± 5.8
20 ± 519 ± 420 ± 66±4
6±3
6±4

Occasionally/Yes

21-66 years
25-60 years
21-66 years
19.6-45.4
23.9-30.8
19.6-45.4
5-28
11-23
5-28
0-12
2-12
0-11

Do you take sleep medication?

66%

21%

14%

Characteristic

Age (all)Males
Females
BMI (all)Males
Females
ISI(all)
Males
Females
Epworth(all)Males
Females

Question

Do you have an irregular sleep cycle?

Is your sleep different at the weekend?

Do you have a phase delay with sleep?

Do you do shift work?

Abbreviations: BMI: Body Mass Index; ISI: Insomnia Severity Index

they avoid major irregularities, if it meant a large variation in
their sleep-wake pattern e.g. going to bed late and getting up
late during the weekend. For participants that showed theselarge irregularities in their routine(defined as exceeding 2 hours
deviation for 2 or more days), we restricted the analysis to 5
continuous days/nights for both the pre-test and the test period,
which typically did not include weekends where the larger
sleeping deviations tended to occur.
The PSG was measured using a 23 channel ambulatory
polygraph that recorded electroencephalography (electrical brain
activity), electromyography (muscle activity), electrooculography(eye movements), electrocardiography (heart beat), respiratory
activity and oxygen content in the blood (pulse oximetry), whilea sensor pad, placed under the sheets, recorded body movements
and positions during the night (Biosaca; Swedsleep AB,
Gothenburg, Sweden). Two comprehensive PSG recordings werecompleted at home, for each participant: one during the first pretest (no weighted blanket) week and one at the end of the third
week (test period, with the weighted blanket). PSG analysis wasdone using the REM Logic software (Embla Systems LLC).

Further to conventional PSG analysis a validated automatic
system for analyzing body movements [23] was used (U-sleep;
Swedsleep AB, Gothenburg, Sweden). Based on the sensor pad it
detected specific movements and classified them into four groups
according to their duration(from < 5 s to >15 s), representing
jerks or twitches, minor or major adjustments, and turns in thebed. The total number and duration of each of these measures
were calculated, as well as the distribution per recording hour,with an emphasis on the next-to-last hour prior to waking up.
The following measures were gained: wake after sleep onset(WASO; in mins), total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency, sleep
latency, latency to deep sleep and rapid eye movements (REM),
number of awakenings, amount of deep sleep and REM, arousal
J Sleep Med Disord 2(3): 1022 (2015)

66%

48%

90 %
93%

19% ± 7
21%

34%

10%

12% -38%
Often
14%

17%

7%

index, number of stage shifts, of sleep cycles, deep and REM sleep,
average deep sleep period, and sleep spindles index.

Subjective measures

During the whole experimental period, the participantsfilled in a sleep/day diary reporting daytime behavior and sleep
perception together, with any comments about their night’s sleep
and any environmental changes of importance. Each morning,they also reported their ‘sleep quality’ in a visual analog scale(VAS; with the end-anchors ‘Very good’ and ‘Very bad’), as wellas on the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS; 1= very alert to 9 =very sleepy) [24].

At the end of the study the participants reported theirsubjective feelings about using the weighted blanket in an 8-item
VAS questionnaire, containing specific questions about their sleep
with the blanket (Table 2), where lower scores indicated morefavorable feelings towards the weighted blanket. Two further
questions were asked: (i) ‘Which side of the blanket is closest to
your body most of the time?’ and (ii) ‘Did you use something else
as a cover, in addition to the weighted blanket?’ These were toassess how the participants used the weighted blanket.

Data analysis

Statistical studies were made using SPSS (version 22; IBM,
Armonk, NY) and Prism (version 6; Graph Pad, La Jolla, CA)
where significant differences of p<0.05 were accepted. All theanalyses have been conducted on normalized data, as most of
the variables were not normally distributed. Hence, parametric,
interval statistics were carried out on the actigraphy, PSG andU-sleep measures and repeated-measures analysis of variance(ANOVA) tests were used. We compared the pre- and posttest data with the weighted blanket data for each variable
using Bonferroni post-hoc corrected-significance tests, which
controlled for multiple comparisons. It was not always possible

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CentralTable 2: The participants rated their subjective feelings about sleep with the weighted blanket using a visual analog scale for questions 1-8.
Score between

1

10

How do you find sleep with the weighted blanket?

Comfortable

Uncomfortable

How do you find sleep with regard to the extra weight the blanket adds?

Not difficult

Awkward

Does the blanket affect your temperature in bed?

Not at all

Very

2

How is your experienced sleep quality, as compared to having no weighted blanket?

4

Is it difficult to move with the weighted blanket?

6

7

8

Is it easier to settle down to sleep with the blanket?

RESULTS

The mean ISI score for all the participants was 19.5 (±5.3
SD), which indicated insomnia of moderate severity (see Table
1 for further details).The mean Epworth score was 6.1 (±3.7 SD)
indicating that the participants had minor issues with sleepinessin the daytime, with further details in Table 1.

OBJECTIVE MEASURES
Actigraphy

The actigraphy was used to determine variables about sleep
metrics; therefore only the sleep period was analyzed, with thetime-in-bed adjusted according to each participant’s sleep diary.
Actigraphy was obtained from 27 participants, from a total of
26 different measures, although some of these measures wereseemingly redundant (e.g. immobility expressed in minutes
compared to immobility as a percentage of time). Significant
differences were found in comparing the pre-test period to thetest period with the weighted blanket. Specifically, the mean
sleep bout time (in mins) significantly increased (p = 0.035),
when using the weighted blanket. Furthermore, the total activity
score during the time in bed (p < 0.001) and the average dark
activity (activity during the night) (p = 0.032) significantly
decreased, during weighted blanket use. These measures areshown in Figure 1.
There was an effect on the results from one of the covariates,
where significant decreases were found for the sleep latency(p=0.010) and time-in-bed (p=0.009) during use of the weighted
blanket, if the participant used medication. The further analysis
on the participants that liked using the blanket (n = 19 subjects
J Sleep Med Disord 2(3): 1022 (2015)

Not at all

Very

How do you feel in the morning with the blanket?

Additional analyses were conducted on a sub-set ofparticipants who rated the weighted blanket favorably, which
was based on their subjective assessment scores, where lower
scores indicated a higher liking. The criteria for exclusion(participant who disliked the blanket) were defined as a meanscore on questions 1-8 of more than 5, a maximum score of 8 or
more, and scores of 8 or more on more than two questions.

Very

Very

Does the blanket give you a sense of security?

to include all of the participants per measure due to issues suchas technical problems. The effects of confounding variables,such as the participant’s gender, age, use of medication, were
tested as covariates. As the behavioral measures were based onquestionnaires, non-parametric, ordinal tests were used for the
analysis.

Worse

Not at all

Not at allMore rested
(A)

(B)

35

More tired

*

**

30
25
20
15
10
5
0

25000

Total activity score

5

Better

Pre-Test

Blanket***Post-Test

*

20000
15000
10000
5000
0

(C)

Mean dark activity (mins)

3

Mean sleep bout time (mins)

1

Pre-Test

BlanketPost-Test

BlanketPost-Test

*

250
200
150
100
50
0

Pre-Test

Figure 1 Significant differences between the pre-test and blanket
sleep periods from actigraphy measurements.
Significant improvements were found during blanket use for objective
actigraphy measures, where there was (A) an increase in the mean
sleep bout time, and decreases in (B) the total activity score and (C)the mean dark activity. The asterisks indicate the significance level
where * p < 0.05 and *** p < 0.001.

included) showed no further additional significant differences in
the results.

The post-test actigraphy period was compared to both the
pre-test and weighted blanket periods. Due to participant dropout, only 22 participants completed the post-test, as compared to
the 27 who completed the pre-test and weighted blanket periods.
There were no significant differences between the pre- and post-

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Central

A total of 25 participants completed both PSG tests during
the pre-test stage and while using the weighted blanket. PSG isa state-of-the-art measure for sleep studies, but the participants
often reported that it was disturbing, due to the equipment
required. Only one measure gave significant difference during theweighted blanket test, as compared to the pre-test: the spindles
index significantly decreased (p =0.003). However considering
only the 21 participants (out of the 25 who completed the PSG, i.e.
84%) who liked the blanket, WASO was decreased significantly(p =0.004) and TST increased significantly with the blanket (p=0.016).The effect of confounding variables on the PSG measures
was sought, where an effect of gender was found, but this was
only for the sleep spindles measure. Here, females had a higher
spindles index during use of the weighted blanket, as comparedto males (p = 0.024).

Movement analysis

The U-sleep data consisted of 6 measures collected from
23 of the 25 participants who completed the PSG (in 2 subjects
there were technical problems with the sensor pad). The mean
movements decreased in the next-to-last hour prior to waking
up, both in duration (p =0.001) and in number (p = 0.075).No
significant effects were found for the confounding variables on
the U-sleep measures. A further analysis was run using only the
subjects that liked using the weighted blanket (n = 15). Here, thenumber of movements in the next-to-last hour prior to waking
up now showed a very significant decrease (p < 0.001), during
blanket use.

Subjective measures

The sleep quality and KSS measures were obtained from 29
participants. There were decreases in both of these measures,
meaning a better subjective sleep quality (sleep quality:
decreased from 5.9 (pre-test) to 5.5 (during blanket use), p =0.005; KSS decreased from 5.8 (pre-test) to 5.5 (during blanketuse), p = 0.068). The post-test values showed no significant
differences with either the pre-test or weighted blanket periods(both the sleep quality and KSS were 5.6).No significant effects
were found for the confounding variables on the KSS or sleep
quality measures, nor were any further differences found when
only the participants that liked using the blanket (n = 20) wereanalyzed.
In Figure 2, the subjective assessment of using the weighted
blanket showed that overall, the participants liked sleeping withthe blanket (p =0.035), found easier to settle down to sleep (p =0.032) and reported a much better quality of sleep (p = 0.004),
feeling more refreshed in the morning (p = 0.045). They were
not disturbed by the weight of the blanket (p =0.012) and in fact,
felt a sense of security (p = 0.042). Furthermore, the weighted
blanket did not affect their temperature in bed. The majority ofparticipants (63%) preferred the padding side of the blanket to
be closest to their body during sleep. The majority also just used
J Sleep Med Disord 2(3): 1022 (2015)

8
RatingPSG

10* ** *

* * *

6
4
2
0

1.
Sl
ee
p
2. ingQua
3. lity
4. We
ig
M
ht
o
5.
Te vem
m
e
nt
pe
ra
tu
re
6.
Se
ttl
7.
in
g
Se
cu
8.
rit
y
M
or
ni
ng

test measures. There was significant decrease between using theweighted blanket and the post-test periods for the mean sleep
bout time in mins (p = 0.003), and significant increases in the total
activity score (p = 0.018) and mean activity score (p = 0.015).

Figure 2 Ratings of subjective feelings about sleep with the weighted
blanket. Each participant rated their feelings on VASs for eight items(numbered 1-8, see questions in Table1), where lower numbers are
more favorable ratings towards the weighted blanket. The dotted line
indicates the level between liking and disliking. The asterisks indicate
the questions where there were significant decreases under the
dotted line (i.e. significant liking), * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01.

the weighted blanket (63%), as compared to 30% who used an
additional quilt under the blanket and 7% who used a quilt overthe blanket.

DISCUSSION

In the present study, a chain weighted blanket was found tobe effective at improving sleep quality in recognized insomniacs,
both in parameters measured objectively and subjectively. The
impact was more pronounced objectively when the participants
reported having a positive experience of using the weighted
blanket and if they used sleep medication. No adverse effects ofusing the weighted blanket were found.
Weighted blankets providing a ‘cocooning’ feeling and areoften recommended for young patients with ASD and in thecare of agitated elderly people. However, to our knowledge thisis the first scientific study on the effect of weighted blankets ininsomniacs. The ISI results validated that the selected group had
mild-to-moderate insomnia and their Epworth scores, expected
to be low in this group of subject, though within the normal
range, were also a little elevated (mean = 6, indicating sometendency for daytime consequences), meaning that the blanket
could be beneficial for general insomnia and potentially also for
mild sleep problems. Based on sensory integration, it has beensuggested that deep pressure and consistent sensory input,
such as provided by a heavy weight on the body, can reduce
physiological levels of arousal [25].A crucial point is that theweight should not be too light or heavy, and the weight mustbe evenly distributed throughout the fabric to provide constanttactile stimulation distributed across the body, which the current
weighted blanket design provided.

There are many weighted blankets and vests on the market
with different designs, for example, those with metal chainsor covers filled with small plastic balls or pellets. Chain covers
and ball quilts may provide different sensations (e.g. tactile,
thermal insulation) and have different weights, which need tobe adapted individually, as some patients may be more sensitive
to stimulation, thus requiring a lesser-weighted blanket. The

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Centraleffectiveness of a weighted blanket has been found to relate to
the mass of a person, where a blanket that weighs more than 10%of the person’s body is more beneficial [19]. All of the participantsin the current study had a weight of blanket/participant
ratio of more than 12% (see Table 1). The longitudinal chain
construction of the present weighted blanket may adjust well tothe participant’s body, where an even weight is delivered overthe body from the whole blanket surface, with the longitudinal
chain construction adding further pressure points that fluctuatewith minor movements producing a stroking-like effect.

There are limitations to the current study design, which
include a lack of a control group, the long duration of the study,some missing data, and the inability to provide a placebo weighted
blanket. The participants represented their own control (preand post-test measures) in our cross-over design and a control
group would only have been necessary if the goal was to compare
different types of blankets. However, in some tests, we had
reduced numbers of participants (e.g. in the PSG), particularly
due to technical issues with this equipment-intensive technique.
As we calculated that we needed at least 26 participants for
significant effects prior to the study, we conducted the study on 31
participants, which allowed for some issues and participant dropout (which occurred mainly at the week 4 post-test stage).Giving
a weighted blanket to control participants without insomnia
would have been less meaningful, unless we were interested inlooking at a possible negative impact of the blanket. However, thestrengths of our design include the use of combined objective andsubjective assessments using different, independent methods,
and the use of a pre- and post-test baseline.
PSG is the golden standard to study sleep, but it can becumbersome, disturbing and is limited to a few nights, hence notrepresentative of the subject’s habitual night sleep. The PSG did
show some beneficial effects of blanket use, including the TST
and WASO that were significantly improved in the 21 participants
reporting a subjective positive impact of the blanket. Regarding
the significant decrease in the spindles index, this may reflect the
responsiveness of the brain to stimuli, where a decreased amountsuggests a ‘loss of contact’ with the external environment, hence
working as a filter and enhancing sleep continuity [26]. The
movement (U-sleep) analysis was based on recordings from the
PSG pad; however, the first sleep hours can be disturbed by the
PSG. Hence, we used the ‘next to last hour’ measure to assess
sleep, since the last hour is often characterized by a shallow
sleep. The participants showed a decrease of movements thisnext to last hour, which represented a quieter, more restful sleep.
Therefore the combination with actigraphy made for a morecomprehensive evaluation of the effects of using the weighted
blanket over time. The actigraphy showed a number of objective
improvements in sleep, including a decrease in movements andan increase in the length of sleep bouts.

Overall, these measures suggest the additional pressure
stimulation from the weighted blanket provided a calming effecton the participants, by decreasing agitation and increasing thequality of their sleep. This was demonstrated through a decreasein movements during sleep with the weighted blanket, whichwere increased in the pre- and post-test periods, and also thesubjective increased in sleep quality (measured by the VAS)
J Sleep Med Disord 2(3): 1022 (2015)

and KSS (which is a validated instrumental scale). Althoughthese subjective measures are possibly less clinically relevant,
it is important to consider the psychological effects of using theweighted blanket (cf. [20]), for example, having a positive attitude.
Weighted blankets and deep pressure touch may work well for
insomniacs, both through psychological means (e.g. calming and‘cocooning’, releasing anxiety [27]) and physiological means (e.g.
tactile input that decreases activity of the sympathetic nervous
system [28]).As increased sympathetic arousal likely affects
sleep quality negatively, reducing it may aid sleep.

CONCLUSION

The weighted chain blanket used in the present study had
a positive impact on sleep, both objectively and subjectively,
where a number of physiological and behavioral measures were
improved during weighted blanket use. When the participants
used the weighted blanket, they had a calmer night’s sleep,with a decrease in movements. Subjectively, they believed thatusing the blanket provided them with a more comfortable,
better quality, and more secure sleep. In conclusion, a weighted
blanket may aid in reducing insomnia through increased tactile
and proprioceptive inputs, may provide an innovative, nonpharmacological approach and complementary tool to improve
sleep quality.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The study was supported by a grant from Somna AB. GB is
the Medical Director of SDS Clinic, where the study was overseen.

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Cite this article
Ackerley R, Badre G, Olausson H (2015) Positive Effects of a Weighted Blanket on Insomnia. J Sleep Med Disord 2(3): 1022.

J Sleep Med Disord 2(3): 1022 (2015)

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