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The Effect of Therapeutic Touch on Exam Anxiety

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

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06279117
Enrollment
46
Registered
2024-02-26
Start date
2024-01-15
Completion date
2024-05-18
Last updated
2024-05-21

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Test Anxiety

Keywords

therapeutic touch, nursing care, test anxiety

Brief 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.

Detailed 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.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALtherapeutic touch

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

Sponsors

Dokuz Eylul University
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)

Intervention model description

Randomised controlled clinical trial

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 30 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

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

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Text AnxietyIndividuals in the therapeutic touch and control groups will be measured as a baseline before the application.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.

Countries

Turkey (Türkiye)

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026