title: Effects of therapeutic touch on blood hemoglobin and hematocrit level.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Therapeutic Touch (TT) is a widely used complementary therapy. This study investigated the effects of TT on hemoglobin and hematocrit level in students who were basically healthy.
  
  
  METHODS
  The volunteers with a hemoglobin level less than 12 grams per deciliter (g/dl) were randomly assigned to three groups of TT, mimic therapeutic touch (MT), and control. Blood samples were collected before the first treatment and again a week after the last one and measurements were taken.
  
  
  RESULTS
  TT increased the level of hemoglobin (.99 .13 g/dl) and hematocrit (2.82 .43%) significantly. MT also increased the level of hemoglobin (.55 .11 g/dl) and hematocrit (2.75 .44%) significantly. No significant changes were found in the control group. TT increased hemoglobin more effectively than MT (p< .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Significant changes of both variables in TT and MTgroups suggest that more careful precision might be needed while selecting individuals as sham therapists in further experiments.
authors.affiliation: Mashad University of Medical Sciences.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Movaffaghi
authors.forename: Morteza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hasanpoor
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farsi
authors.forename: Poory
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hooshmand
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Abrishami
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006400:Hematocrit / Q000451:nursing*; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006694:Holistic Health; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012016:Reference Values; D012107:Research Design; D019124:Therapeutic Touch / Q000451:nursing*
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins