The Effect of Therapeutic Touch on Exam Anxiety

Test Anxiety Clinical Trial

Official title:

The Effect of Therapeutic Touch Applied to Nursing Students on Exam Anxiety

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT06279117
• Other study ID #: 2023/9/8
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: January 15, 2024
• Est. completion date: May 18, 2024

Study information

• Verified date: May 2024
• Source: Dokuz Eylul University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Aim: This study was planned to determine the effect of therapeutic touch applied to nursing students on test anxiety.

Method: Students who met the inclusion criteria were divided into therapeutic touch and control groups using the randomization method. After the groups were determined, the students filled out the Introductory Information Form and the State Exam Anxiety Scale. 30 minutes before the exam, therapeutic touch was applied to each of the students, who were divided into groups, for 20 minutes. No application was made to the control group, and they were told to wait in the classroom where the group was waiting as they wished.Immediately after the application was completed, the scale was re-applied to both groups.

Description:

Test anxiety is a condition that has cognitive, emotional and physiological aspects and causes unwanted and disturbing emotions during the exam. It can inhibit the mental perception needed to do well on an exam, as well as the clear thinking skills and memory needed to study effectively.The person may feel anxious, worthless or disorganized, experience rapid heartbeat, headaches and stress; They may compare themselves with their peers due to test anxiety. Test anxiety can hinder educational success and negatively impact students' skill development and academic performance. Nursing education is a highly stressful process that includes theoretical and practical learning and teaching experiences. This situation further increases students' anxiety levels. Studies have found that nursing students' test anxiety is higher than other university students.I t is known that many complementary methods are used to reduce anxiety. Therapeutic touch, which is one of the energy-based practices, is one of them.

When the literature is examined, it can be seen that therapeutic touch has been studied on symptoms such as anxiety, fatigue, sleep quality, comfort and pain in different sample groups, but there is no study on test anxiety.Therefore, this study was planned to determine the effect of therapeutic touch applied to nursing students on test anxiety.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 46
• Est. completion date: May 18, 2024
• Est. primary completion date: May 15, 2024
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 30 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• To be over 18 years of age,

• To know Turkish and to agree to participate in the research

• Being a fourth year nursing student

• Not having received any energy therapy (reiki, therapeutic touch) before

Exclusion Criteria:

• Presence of existing psychiatric illness,

• Using anxiolytic and antidepressant medications

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Anxiety Disorders
• Test Anxiety

Intervention

Behavioral:
• therapeutic touch
Individuals who undergo therapeutic touch will receive therapeutic touch for 20 minutes 30 minutes before the exam.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Turkey	Gizem Göktuna	Izmir

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Dokuz Eylul University

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Turkey, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Text Anxiety	Comparison of test anxiety results of therapeutic touch group and control group. The students' test anxiety score data were collected by the State Test Anxiety Scale.; It is a 22-item scale. The scores in the inventory range from 22 to 88. Higher points show a higher level of anxiety.	Individuals in the therapeutic touch and control groups will be measured as a baseline before the application.
Primary	Text Anxiety	Comparison of test anxiety results of therapeutic touch group and control group. The students' test anxiety score data were collected by the State Test Anxiety Scale.; It is a 22-item scale. The scores in the inventory range from 22 to 88. Higher points show a higher level of anxiety.	After the therapeutic touch is completed, individuals in both groups will be measured again within an average of 10 minutes.