Effects of Tactile Massage in Improving Older Residents' Psychological Health and Related Indicators in Long-Term Care Facilities
Phase: NA
Conditions: Loneliness
Sponsor: Taipei Medical University

 
 
Research title 
Effects of Tactile Massage in Long-Term Care Facilities  
 
 
 
NCT number 
NCT05052138 
 
Date 
2021/09/10 
 
 

Abstract 
Background: The older residents in the long-term care facilities (LTCFs) 
frequently suffer from loneliness, anxiety, and depressive symptoms which 
might affect residents’ quality of life and even increase their mortality. 
Improving residents’ psychological health problems is one of the important 
tasks for nursing staff. There is a need to develop an easy, accessible, and 
cost-effective intervention in improving older residents’ negative emotions. 
Tactile massage (TM) is a soft touch and through skin-to-skin contact, the 
oxytocin can be induced to make individual feel relaxed, feel pleasure, and 
reduce anxiety. Individual might experience a sense of security and feel of 
being cared for via TM.  
Objective: To evaluate the effects of tactile massage in improving older 
residents’ psychological health in LTCFs. 
Design: A randomised controlled trial. 
Methods: The randomized controlled trial research design and convenience 
sampling will be employed. LTCFs will be selected and contacted by 
researchers. The intervention group received TM for both hands twice a 
week for four weeks, and the comparison group received regular care. Data 
were collected before and after the intervention using demographic 
characteristics information, UCLA Loneliness Scale version 3, Geriatric 
Anxiety Inventory, Geriatric Depression Scale short form, and Chinese 
Happiness Scale. In addition, comfort level, relaxation level, and vital signs 
were also measured before and after each intervention. 
Generalized Estimation Equations (GEE) was used to evaluate the 
effectiveness of the intervention.