Effect of Therapeutic Touch on Perceived Stress and Comfort Levels in Hemodialysis Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of Therapeutic Touch on Perceived Stress and Comfort Levels in Hemodialysis Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial
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.
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