Effect of therapeutic touch on daytime sleepiness, stress and fatigue among students of nursing and midwifery: A randomized sham-controlled trial

• Published in: Complementary therapies in clinical practice Vol. 43; p. 101322
• Main Authors: Vural Doğru, Birgül, Utli, Hediye, Şenuzun Aykar, Fisun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2021; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: College students; Day time; Daytime sleepiness; Disorders of Excessive Somnolence; Fatigue; Fatigue - therapy; Female; Humans; Midwifery; Nursing; Nursing and midwifery students; Pregnancy; Sleep; Sleep deprivation; Sleep quality; Sleepiness; Stress; Students; Therapeutic Touch; Therapeutic touch; Sleep quality; Fatigue; Daytime sleepiness; Nursing and midwifery students; Stress
• ISSN: 1744-3881; 1873-6947
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2021.101322

This study was conducted to assess the effect of therapeutic touch on stress, daytime sleepiness, sleep quality and fatigue among students of nursing and midwifery. 96 students were randomized into three groups: the therapeutic touch (TT) group, the sham therapeutic touch (STT) group, and the control group. In this randomized sham-controlled study, the TT group was subjected to therapeutic touch twice a week for four weeks with each session lasting 20 min. When the TT group was compared to the STT and control groups following the intervention, the decrease in the levels of stress (p < 0.001), fatigue (p < 0.001) and daytime sleepiness (p < 0.001), and the increase in the sleep quality (p < 0.001) were found to be significant. It was found that TT, which is one form of complementary therapy, was relatively effective in decreasing the levels of stress, fatigue and daytime sleepiness, and in increasing the sleep quality of university students of nursing and midwifery. •Nursing and midwifery students had high levels of stress, fatigue and daytime sleepiness, and low sleep quality.•TT has quite effect on decreasing the levels of stress, fatigue and daytime sleepiness of the students nursing and midwifery.•TT has quite effect on increasing sleep quality of the students nursing and midwifery.