Therapeutic touch for anxiety disorders.

BACKGROUND

Anxiety disorders are a common occurrence in today's society. There is interest from the community in the use of complementary therapies for anxiety disorders. This review examined the currently available evidence supporting the use of therapeutic touch in treating anxiety disorders.

OBJECTIVES

To examine the efficacy and adverse effects of therapeutic touch for anxiety disorders.

SEARCH STRATEGY

We searched the Cochrane Collaboration Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Controlled Trials Registers (CCDANCTR-Studies and CCDANCTR-References) (search date 13/01/06), the Controlled Trials website and Dissertation Abstracts International. Searches of reference lists of retrieved papers were also carried out and experts in the field were contacted.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Inclusion criteria included all published and unpublished randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials comparing therapeutic touch with sham (mimic) TT, pharmacological therapy, psychological treatment, other treatment or no treatment /waiting list. The participants included adults with an anxiety disorder defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV),the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), validated diagnostic instruments, or other validated clinician or self-report instruments.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently applied inclusion criteria. Further information was sought from trialists where papers contained insufficient information to make a decision about eligibility.

MAIN RESULTS

No randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials of therapeutic touch for anxiety disorders were identified.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Given the high prevalence of anxiety disorders and the current paucity of evidence on therapeutic touch in this population, there is a need for well conducted randomised controlled trials to examine the effectiveness of therapeutic touch for anxiety disorders.