Title: Effect of Therapeutic Touch on Daytime Sleepiness, Stress and Fatigue

Mardin Artuklu University104 enrolled

Overview

Objective: This study was conducted to assess the effect of therapeutic touch on stress, daytime sleepiness, sleep quality and fatigue among the students of nursing and midwifery. Design: Randomized placebo-controlled study.

The trial was conducted between April and July 2018. The students who met the inclusion criteria were separated into three groups through randomization method as in therapeutic touch (n=32), placebo (n=32) and control (n=32), and a total of 96 students participated in the study. In this randomized placebo controlled study, the therapeutic touch group were subjected to therapeutic touch for twice a week throughout 4 weeks with each session of 20 minutes. The data was acquired via Student Information Form, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Pittburgh Sleep Quality Index, Perceived Stress Scale and Visual Analogue Scale for Fatigue.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

104

Conditions

Stress Fatigue Sleepiness

Interventions

Therapeutic TouchOTHER

Therapeutic Touch

Control groupOTHER

Making measurements at the beginning of the research and 4 weeks

Sham Therapeutic TouchOTHER

Sham Therapeutic Touch

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 35 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * students who were at and above the age of 18, * were the 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year or 4th year students of nursing or midwifery, * did not receive any energy therapy (Reiki, healing touch, therapeutic touch), * received a score above 10 from the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), * did not have any communication problem, * and accepted to take part in the study were included in the study. Exclusion Criteria: * Students who were getting a psychologic and/or pharmacologic treatment in regard to their sleep, fatigue and stress problems, * previously got a psychiatric diagnosis, still had a psychiatric illness, * previously or still used anxiety (psychotropic) medicines were excluded from the study.

Locations (1)

Mardin Artuklu University

Mardin, Turkey (Türkiye)

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change in Perceived Stress Scale

The score of PSS-10 varied from 0 to 40. High score shows the excessiveness of the perceived stress of the individual

Time frame: Change from baseline and 4 weeks.

Change in Epworth Sleepiness Scale

The scale consists of 8 items and score varies from 0-24. If the total score is between 2-10, it is considered as normal, pathological sleepiness indicator is greater than 10, thirteen and higher values are considered excessive daytime sleepiness.

Time frame: Change from baseline and 4 weeks.

Change in Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index

In PSQI analysis, 18 items were scored and there are 7 categories as in subjective sleep quality, delayed sleep, sleep duration, accustomed sleep activity, sleep disorder, use of sleeping pill and daytime dysfunction. Total score varies from 0 to 21. If the total PSQI score is ≤5, it stands for "good sleep quality", and if the score is \>5, it stands for "bad sleep quality"

Time frame: Change from baseline and 4 weeks.

Change in Visual Analogue Scale

The scale of fatigue is a scale of 10 cm that assesses the severity of the fatigue in the last week. The left side of the scale contains the label of "I do not feel fatigue", while the right side of the scale contains the label of "I Feel Extreme Fatigue and Exhaustion". VASF value is determined through the measurement of the distance between the very left side of the scale and the marked point

Time frame: Change from baseline and 4 weeks.

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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