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Research: DANHAUER and COLLEAGUES,
Listed in Issue 166
Abstract
DANHAUER and COLLEAGUES, Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Hematology and Oncology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1082, USA. danhauer@wfubmc.edu determined the feasibility of conducting a study about Healing Touch (HT) in patients with acute leukaemia.
Background
Goals were to determine the feasibility of conducting a study of Healing Touch (HT) for acute leukaemia patients and to obtain preliminary data on its effectiveness.
Methodology
Forty hospitalized leukaemia patients completed a brief survey of HT knowledge/experience. A prospective cohort (N = 12) was invited to participate in an HT intervention (9 30-minute sessions over 3 weeks); they completed measures of distress, symptoms, and sleep (at weeks 1 and 5), and completed single item ratings of fatigue, nausea, distress, and pain immediately pre-post selected HT sessions. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to analyze change in pre-post session ratings and distress, symptom, and sleep measures.
Results
Among survey respondents, 8% had used HT in the past, and 71% were interested in using HT. In the prospective cohort, there were significant pre-post session improvements in fatigue and nausea (but not in distress and pain). There were no significant changes between weeks 1 and 5 in distress, symptoms, or sleep. Ratings and qualitative feedback on HT were positive, focused mainly on feeling relaxed following HT sessions.
Conclusion
It is feasible to recruit patients hospitalized for acute leukaemia to a study of HT. Preliminary data on short-term improvements in symptoms indicate these are promising outcomes for future study.
References
Danhauer SC, Tooze JA, Holder P, Miller C and Jesse MT. Healing touch as a supportive intervention for adult acute leukemia patients: a pilot investigation of effects on distress and symptoms. Journal Of The Society For Integrative Oncology. 6(3): 89-97. 2008.
