Clinical research with Therapeutic Touch: a systematic review

AIMS: To investigate clinical research protocols using the Therapeutic Touch modality of complementary therapy, identifying the profile target audiences as well as the number, time and frequency of sessions. SOURCE OF DATA: The investigation was performed in the Medline/PubMed, Lilacs and Cochrane Library databases, selecting studies with experimental methodology, published between 2004 and 2014, in Portuguese and English languages, through the terms Therapeutic Touch, Nursing and Alternative/Complementary Therapy. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS: Among the eight selected studies, the number of sessions ranged from three to 28, and the average time per session was between 15 and 90 minutes. The target audience ranged from healthy subjects to persons hospitalized in burn units. Most of the articles reported a significant improvement in pain scores and anxiety, as well as in hemoglobin and hematocrit. CONCLUSIONS: The reviewed articles demonstrated positive effects on the use of Therapeutic Touch in clinical research. However, because of the lack of standardization in its use, difficulties in replicating the studied methods and, therefore, in the validity of a pattern that could be used in clinical practice as well as in research.