The Study
Effect of short-term magnesium supplementation on anxiety, depression and sleep quality in patients after open-heart surgery
This study saw that people who took magnesium felt a little less anxious and slept a bit better, but we don’t know if the magnesium caused it — maybe those people were just luckier or got better care. It’s like noticing that kids who eat candy do better on tests — but that doesn’t mean candy makes you smarter.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
After heart surgery, some patients took magnesium pills for five days, while others didn't. The ones who took magnesium felt less anxious, less depressed, and slept better.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 535 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — a drop from 10.3 to 8.3 on the sleep scale suggests meaningful improvement in sleep quality for patients recovering from major surgery.
- 2Magnesium group: sleep score 8.3 (out of 21), serum magnesium higher.
- 3Control group: sleep score 10.3.
- 4Both differences were statistically significant.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Magnesium research
Year
2022
Authors
S. Saba, Fakhrudin Faizi, M. Sepandi, B. Nehrir
Related Content
Claims (2)
Taking magnesium supplements leads to better sleep quality through changes in neurotransmitter activity and reduced nervous system activity.
Adults recovering from open-heart surgery who take 500 mg of magnesium oxide daily for five days have higher serum magnesium levels, lower anxiety and depression scores, and better sleep quality than those receiving routine care alone.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.