NCT06646835

The Effect of Stress Ball Application on Anxiety and Fetal Heart Rate Before Cesarean Section

The Effect of Stress Ball Application on Anxiety and Fetal Heart Rate in Risk Pregnant Women Before Cesarean Section: A Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 88 (actual)
• Sponsor: Ondokuz Mayıs University · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

This study will be conducted to determine the effect of stress ball application on anxiety and fetal heart rate in risk pregnant women before cesarean section. Women with risk pregnancies randomly assigned to intervention (n=44) and control (n=44) groups in a faculty hospital in Turkey will be included in the study. Pregnant women in the intervention group will be instructed how to use the stress ball in the obstetrics ward before cesarean section. During the practice, pregnant women will be asked to demonstrate the movements of tightening and loosening the stress ball to ensure correct use. It will be emphasized to the pregnant women that they should squeeze the ball once after counting to three, inhale when they squeeze the ball, exhale when they loosen their grip and focus only on the ball. Pregnant women in the control group will not receive any intervention other than routine general care. Data will be collected face-to-face by the researcher based on the self-reports of the pregnant women before cesarean section.

Conditions

• Nursing
• Pregnant
• Anxiety
• Caesarean Section
• Fetal Conditions

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Stress Ball Intervention	The stress ball is a simple and effective tool for reducing anxiety and relaxation as a non-pharmacological method (Yanes et al., 2018). Due to the limited pharmacological options available for pregnant women to reduce anxiety during cesarean section, alternative, complementary or supportive non-pharmacological methods and low-risk approaches are needed (Baltacı \& Başer, 2020). It is thought that squeezing the stress ball may be advantageous in reducing anxiety.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-10-30
• Primary completion: 2025-03-30
• Completion: 2025-06-15
• First posted: 2024-10-17
• Last updated: 2025-07-30

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Turkey (Türkiye)