Therapeutic Touch in Cancer Patients Receiving Palliative Care

April 6, 2026 updated by: Ercan Bakır, Erzurum Technical University

The Effect of Therapeutic Touch on Sleep Quality and Fatigue Severity in Advanced Cancer Patients in the Palliative Care Setting: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This study aims to examine the effect of therapeutic touch applied to advanced cancer patients receiving palliative care on sleep quality and fatigue severity. This is a randomized controlled experimental study using a pretest-posttest design. The study includes advanced-stage cancer patients receiving support in a palliative care unit. Research data will be collected from patients between March and August 2024 using face-to-face interviews. The intervention group will receive therapeutic touch for 20 minutes per day for 5 consecutive days, while the control group will continue to receive routine palliative care. Data will be collected using a Personal Information Form, the Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (RCSQ), and the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS).

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Palliative care is a branch of healthcare that helps individuals who cannot achieve complete remission due to chronic diseases, mostly cancer, or who need care in the last period of life, to manage the multiple symptoms brought by the disease. The majority of cancer patients receiving palliative care treatment are in advanced cancer stages. The aim of treatment in cancer patients receiving palliative care is to improve quality of life and to manage pain, insomnia, fatigue, and other symptoms related to the disease. One of the most common problems experienced by these patients is insomnia and fatigue due to both treatment and the nature of the disease. These patients use many integrative methods as well as many medical treatments. One of these methods is therapeutic touch. The fact that this method has no known side effects makes it an attractive option for symptom management.

In the hospital setting, therapeutic touch can be applied in the patient's room and bed. After disinfecting the hands and bringing them to body temperature, the practitioner applies light, rhythmic touches to the patient's head, shoulders, arms, and feet. During this application, patients are asked to be in the most comfortable position. The therapeutic touch session for sleep, which is one of the variables of the study, should be performed close to the patient's bedtime (approximately 22:00). The application takes approximately 10-15 minutes.

Materials and Methods: The research is a randomized controlled experimental study with a pretest-posttest design. Randomization will be ensured by using a simple random number table.

Location of the Study: The study will consist of cancer patients receiving care and treatment services in the Palliative Care Service of Erzurum City Hospital, affiliated with the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey.

Study Population and Sample Selection: Using G*Power 3.1.7 software, the sample size was calculated with a test power of 0.95. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that 30 patients should be included at the α=0.05 level, when the effect size was 0.10 and 95% power.

Implementation Protocol: After randomization, patients will be divided into two groups. Scales will be applied to the intervention group in the first interview and pretest data will be obtained. Therapeutic touch will be performed on the head, shoulders, hands, and feet for approximately 10-15 minutes, starting at 22:00, for 5 consecutive days.

Control Group: Patients in the control group will be interviewed at 22:00, and a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (RCSQ), and the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) will be administered. The data collection phase of the study will be completed by collecting posttest data from all groups after the last interview.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

61

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Turkey (Türkiye)
    • Merkez
      • Erzurum, Merkez, Turkey (Türkiye), 02040
        • Erzurum City Hospital Palliative Care Service

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Inclusion Criteria:
  • 18 years of age or older
  • Pathologically confirmed advanced-stage cancer (stage 3-4)
  • Receiving palliative care treatment
  • Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (RCSQ) score ≤50
  • Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) score ≥4
  • Mini-Mental Test score ≥24

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Known diagnosis of a major sleep disorder
  • Presence of acute infection
  • Widespread dermatological lesions compromising skin integrity (e.g., ulcer, eczema)
  • Dementia, delirium, or severe cognitive impairment
  • Hearing or vision loss that would hinder therapeutic communication
  • Medical condition that would contraindicate the application as determined by the palliative care team

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: therapeutic touch intervention group
Scales were applied to the intervention group in the first interview and pre-test data were obtained. In the next process, therapeutic touch was performed to the intervention group for approximately 10-15 minutes on the head, shoulders, hands and feet starting at 22:00 at night for 5 days on weekdays within the scope of the research.
Behavioral: Therapeutic Touch
Therapeutic touch was applied to the head, shoulders, hands and feet for approximately 10-15 minutes per day for 5 consecutive days. The application was performed between 18:00-22:00 in the patient's room with privacy ensured. The protocol consisted of light, rhythmic touches based on the effleurage (stroking) technique.
Active Comparator: Control: Routine Palliative Care Group
Control group continued with routine palliative care protocols. No therapeutic touch or other specific touch-based intervention was applied. Scales were applied at the same time points as the intervention group.
Other: Routine Palliative Care
Participants continued with routine palliative care protocols. No therapeutic touch or other specific touch-based intervention was applied.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Sleep Quality
Time Frame: Baseline and immediately after 5-day intervention
Sleep quality measured by the Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (RCSQ). The scale consists of 5 items scored from 0 to 100. Higher scores indicate better sleep quality.
Baseline and immediately after 5-day intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Fatigue Severity
Time Frame: Baseline and immediately after 5-day intervention
Fatigue severity measured by the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS). The scale consists of 9 items scored from 1 to 7. The total score is calculated by summing all item scores and dividing by 9. Higher scores indicate more severe fatigue.
Baseline and immediately after 5-day intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Erzurum Technical University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 31, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 6, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

April 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 6, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 27.03.2024-23396

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data will not be shared due to confidentiality and privacy concerns. The data contain sensitive patient information and institutional review board approval does not include data sharing.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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