Tabatabaee, A., Tafreshi, M.Z., Rassouli, M., Aledavood, S.A., AlaviMajd, H., & Farahmand, S.K. (2016). Effect of therapeutic touch on pain related parameters in patients with cancer: A randomized clinical trial. Materia Socio-Medica, 28, 220–223.

DOI Link

Study Purpose

The purpose was to evaluate the effects of therapeutic touch (TT) for pain management.

Intervention Characteristics/Basic Study Process

Patients were randomly assigned to TT, placebo, or control groups. TT was provided by a trained therapist in a private area every three days for seven sessions. In the placebo group, hands were placed around the body in a sham procedure. The control group received usual care. TT and sham procedure took 10-15 minutes.

Sample Characteristics

  • N = 90   
  • AGE: Mean 54.51 years
  • MALES: 100%  
  • KEY DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Disease type not stated
  • OTHER KEY SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS: All had chronic pain and had been treated for cancer for at least one year.

Setting

  • SITE: Single site   
  • SETTING TYPE: Not specified    
  • LOCATION: Iran

Phase of Care and Clinical Applications

PHASE OF CARE: Transition phase after active treatment

Study Design

Three-group sham-controlled randomized clinical trial

Measurement Instruments/Methods

Brief Pain Inventory

Results

Only pain interference was reported. No information was provided on pain severity. After the first TT session, there were no significant differences between groups in pain interference results. After session 7, those in the TT group showed lower pain interference for activity (p = 0.001), mood (p = 0.001), walking ability (p = 0.001), relationships with other people (p = 0.001), and sleep (p = 0.001).

Conclusions

TT may be helpful for pain management in patients with cancer and managing sleep disturbance related to pain.

Limitations

  • Small sample (< 100)
  • Risk of bias (no blinding)
  • Risk of bias (no appropriate attentional control condition)
  • Unintended interventions or applicable interventions not described that would influence results
  • Measurement or methods not well described
  • Intervention expensive, impractical, or training needs
  • Other limitations/explanation: Timing of measurement not reported. No information about baseline pain, use of analgesics, etc., is provided. No information on diagnosis and type of pain. Provision of TT requires specific training.

Nursing Implications

TT is a low-risk intervention that may be beneficial for some patients in managing pain and reducing the impact of pain on sleep. This study had multiple limitations. Further well-designed research in effectiveness of TT for varied types of pain is needed.