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Not yet recruitingNCT07061353Updated Nov 18, 2025

Effect of Therapeutic Touch on Perceived Stress and Comfort Levels in Hemodialysis Patients

An interventional study of Therapeutic touch in Therapeutic Touch and Hemodialysis Patients, sponsored by Firat University. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye). Open to participants aged 18 Years to 75 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-11-18.

Sponsored by Firat University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Mar 2026, 7 months ago, but the record still lists the study as not yet recruiting.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
60
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 75 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Hemodialysis is a treatment method used in the treatment of acute or chronic renal failure, the main function of which is based on the cleaning of accumulated waste materials in the blood, and is rapidly developing and spreading in parallel with today's technology. Patients undergoing hemodialysis treatment are trying to cope with social and physical problems that may develop due to chronic disease. At the same time, their quality of life is affected due to the psychosocial, economic problems and complications brought about by machine dependency. From past to present, individuals have used various methods to protect/improve their health. Today, in addition to modern medicine, complementary/alternative therapies are increasingly used. One of these alternative therapies is the therapeutic touch application, which has recently gained popularity. Therapeutic touch is based on the therapeutic effect of the act of touching. Therapeutic touch, alternatively known as healing touch, is a complementary/alternative treatment method applied by touching energy points in the body. Therefore, this study was planned to examine the effect of therapeutic touch applied to hemodialysis patients on perceived stress and comfort levels. This study, planned as a randomized experimental study with a pre-test-post-test intervention control group, will be a study on dialysis patients receiving treatment at the hemodialysis unit of Fırat University Hospital between June 2025-June 2026. The sample will consist of a minimum of 60 dialysis patients (30 intervention, 30 control) who meet the research criteria and accept the study. The patients in the intervention and control groups will first be informed about the application before starting the application and their verbal and written consents will be obtained. Then, the Patient Identification Form, Visual Analog Scale-Comfort (VAS-Comfort), Hemodialysis Comfort Scale (HKS) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) will be applied and the 1st measurement will be obtained. The application will last approximately 15-30 minutes for the patients in the intervention group every three days. After three days of alternate application, data forms will be filled in again for patients and 2nd measurements will be obtained. During this period, no intervention will be made to patients in the control group and only the normal treatment protocol will be applied. At the end of three days, data forms will be filled in again and 2nd measurements will be obtained. In the analysis of data; frequency and percentage analyses, chi-square analysis, standard deviation, t-test in dependent groups, t-test analysis in independent groups will be performed.

02

Conditions studied

  • Therapeutic Touch
  • Hemodialysis Patients

Keywords

  • Therapeutic touch
  • Hemodialysis Patient
  • Stress
  • Comfort
  • Nursing
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Firat University is the lead sponsor of 112 studies on the registry; 46 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 75 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • At least 3 months of hemodialysis treatment • Cognitive function is in place

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Those with communication problems
  • Those who do not agree to participate in the study
  • Patients who receive traditional treatment for the disease
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
60 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Therapeutic Touch

    Therapeutic Touch group

    Behavioral: Therapeutic touch

  • No intervention
    Control

    No therapeutic touch group

Interventions

  • BehavioralTherapeutic touch

    Therapeutic touch will be performed

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Visual Analog Scale - Comfort

    The Visual Analog Scale was developed by Price et al. (1983) to assess pain intensity. In previous studies, VAS was also used to determine the comfort levels of patients. In this study, VAS was used to assess the comfort levels of patients. A score of 0 on the scale for comfort assessment indicates "I have no comfort at all", and a score of 10 indicates "I have great comfort".

    Time frame: At the end of the third day

  2. Hemodialysis Comfort Scale

    The scale, developed by Şahin Orak and colleagues (2017) to determine the comfort levels of hemodialysis patients, consists of 9 items and two sub-dimensions. The responses to item 4 of the scale are scored as "never" 1 point, "very rarely" 2 points, "sometimes" 3 points, "very often" 4 points and "always" 5 points. The scores given to the other items (1-3, 5-9) are scored in reverse: "never" 5 points, "very rarely" 4 points, "sometimes" 3 points, "very often" 2 points and "always" 1 point. The scale has two sub-dimensions: "Relaxation" (items 7-9) and "Overcoming" (items 1-6). The total score evaluation of the scale and its sub-dimensions is determined by calculating the average score. The increase in the total score obtained from the scale indicates that the comfort level increases. In the validity and reliability study of the developed scale, the Cronbach alpha value for the total scale was determined as 0.87.

    Time frame: At the end of the third day

  3. Perceived Stress Scale

    The Perceived Stress Scale was developed by Cohen et al. in 1983 to determine the level of stress that threatens human health. Its Turkish validity and reliability were determined by Eskin et al. (2013). The scale consists of 2 factors: "insufficient self-efficacy" and "stress" perception. The scale is a 5-point Likert-type scale and consists of 14 items. As the scores obtained from the scale increase, the stress level perceived by the person also increases. PSS scores range from 0 to 56, with a score range of 0-35 indicating a normal stress level and a score range of 35-56 indicating that the individual is under stress. In the original study of the scale, the Cronbach Alpha coefficient was found to be 0.84

    Time frame: At the end of the third day

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Fırat university
    Elâzığ, Center 25240, Turkey (Türkiye)
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Nov 18, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07061353
Lead sponsor
Firat University
Responsible party
Gülcan Bahçecioğlu Turan (Principal Investigator, Firat University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jul 11, 2025
Start date
Dec 31, 2025 (estimated)
Primary completion
Mar 1, 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Jun 1, 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Nov 18, 2025

Study contacts

Gülcan Bahçecioğlu Turan
Contact
glcnbah@hotmail.com
05065576086
Eda Doğan
Contact
0534 014 2159

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Nov 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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