NCT07276594

Impact of White Noise and Stress Balls on Anxiety, Fetal Well-Being, and Surgical Fear in Elective Cesareans

The Effect of White Noise and Stress Balls Applied During NST to Pregnant Women Scheduled for Cesarean Section on Anxiety, Fetal Well-being, and Fear of Surgery

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 168 (actual)
• Sponsor: Inonu University · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study aims to determine the effect of white noise and stress balls administered during NST on anxiety, fetal well-being, and fear of surgery in pregnant women scheduled for planned cesarean sections. A total of 168 pregnant women will be included in the study, divided into 4 groups (white noise group, stress ball group, white noise group + stress ball group, and control group).

Detailed description

Participants will only be exposed to white noise and stress ball therapy; no invasive procedures will be performed. Experimental Group Participants will be invited to participate in the study through face-to-face interviews conducted individually. Participants assigned to the experimental group via randomization will be informed about the study and their consent will be obtained. Pregnant women who agree to participate in the study will receive the intervention starting 15 minutes before the NST application and continuing throughout the NST application; those in the white noise group will listen to white noise, those in the stress ball group will receive the stress ball intervention, and those in the white noise + stress ball group will listen to white noise and receive the stress ball intervention. Before the session begins, the "Informative Information Form," "NST Findings Record Form," "Surgical Fear Scale," and "Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory" will be administered. After the NST application, the "NST Findings Record Form," "Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory," and "Surgical Fear Scale" will be administered. Control Group Participants will be invited to participate in the study through face-to-face interviews conducted individually. Participants in the control group will be informed about the study and their consent will be obtained according to the randomization method. No intervention other than routine care will be performed. Participants in the control group will first be administered the "Informative Information Form," "NST Findings Record Form," "Surgical Fear Scale," and "Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory" for the pre-test. After the NST application is completed, the "NST Findings Record Form," "Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory," and "Surgical Fear Scale" will be administered.

Conditions

• Elective Cesarean Section
• Non Stress Test (NST)

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	only white noise	White noise listening intervention was initiated 15 minutes before the NST application. Both white noise listening and stress ball squeezing and releasing were performed throughout the NST application and for15 minutes after the application ended.
OTHER	only stress ball	The stress ball intervention was initiated 15 minutes before the NST application. Throughout the NST application and for 15 minutes after the application ended, the stress ball squeezing and releasing exercise was performed.
OTHER	White noise + stress ball	White noise + stress ball intervention, starting 15 minutes before the NST application, continuing throughout the NST application, and continuing for 15 minutes after the application ends, involving both listening to white noise and squeezing and releasing the stress ball.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-05-01
• Primary completion: 2025-06-01
• Completion: 2025-11-05
• First posted: 2025-12-11
• Last updated: 2026-01-13

Locations

4 sites across 1 country: Turkey (Türkiye)