Goldberg, D.R., Wardell, D.W., Kilgarriff, N., Williams, B., Eichler, D., & Thomlinson, P. (2016). An initial study using healing touch for women undergoing a breast biopsy. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 34, 123–134.
To determine if healing touch can benefit women undergoing diagnostic procedures for breast cancer
Patients were randomized to receive healing touch or to a control group receiving usual care by the day of the week after completing baseline surveys. Those in the experimental group were placed in a treatment room and placed on a massage table. Healing touch was provided by a trained practitioner for 15 minutes. Surveys were again completed after the breast biopsy procedure in both study groups. Participants were given a third set of surveys to return via mail the following day.
PHASE OF CARE: Diagnostic
Randomized, controlled trial
State anxiety levels declined significantly immediately after the biopsy in both groups. On the next day, anxiety remained lower in the therapeutic touch group, but the difference between groups was only marginally significant (p = 0.06). Physiologic measures showed that the intervention groups respiratory rate and heart rate decreased, but differences between groups were not significant.
The findings suggest that healing touch may be helpful to reduce anxiety associated with undergoing a breast biopsy. Further study is needed to demonstrate efficacy.
Therapeutic touch is a noninvasive intervention that may be helpful for some individuals undergoing periods of stress and anxiety related to diagnostic procedures. Further research is needed to determine the effectiveness of this intervention compared to usual care. Future studies should incorporate comparison to a sham intervention.