Effects of Non-Pharmacological Interventions on Degree of Thirst and Oral Mucosal Moisture in Critically Ill Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Xiaowen Shen, Rong Wang, Lvmei Zhao and 2 others
PMID 42266163WHAT IT FOUND
In ICU patients, multi-component bundle care ranked best for reducing thirst intensity, ice water spray for distress, and ice cubes for oral moisture.
Because study results varied widely, these rankings should guide choices, not prove one treatment works.
Key findings
01Bundle care ranked highest for thirst intensity (91.4%) and showed significant differences versus usual care and several single sprays.
02Ice water spray ranked highest for thirst distress (79.4%) and differed significantly from bundle care and lemonade spray.
03Ice cubes in mouth ranked highest for oral mucosal moisture (87.9%) and differed significantly from usual care.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The studies varied widely (I2 = 97.8% for thirst intensity), so the pooled rankings are imprecise. Only 26 trials and 15 interventions were available, and the authors say the small number limits precision. 15 of 26 studies were moderate risk and 2 were high risk for bias. Intervention methods, durations and frequencies were not consistently reported, and some subgroup factors could not be analysed. Most participants were from China, so generalisability to other ICU populations is uncertain. The paper reports standardized differences rather than raw thirst score points, so clinicians cannot tell how much the scores changed.
Declared interests
Funded by a Jiaxing nursing key discipline grant and a Jiaxing First Hospital Qiming Xing grant; authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat the rankings as proof that one intervention works best. The pooled studies varied widely, bundle care components differed across trials, and ice cubes in mouth may require swallowing and aspiration assessment before use.