Completed

The Effect of Therapeutic Touch on Bone Formation in Postmenopausal Women After Wrist Fracture

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What is being tested

Data Collection

Who is being recruted

Wrist Fractures
+7

+ Arm Injuries
+ Bone Diseases
From 40 to 85 Years
See all eligibility criteria
How is the trial designed

Treatment Study

Phase 2
Interventional
Study Start: March 2003
See protocol details

Summary

Principal SponsorNational Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
Last updated: January 13, 2026
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner
Study start date: March 1, 2003Actual date on which the first participant was enrolled.

In the United States, the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) increased by approximately 25% between 1990 and 1997. The number of visits to CAM practitioners exceeded visits to primary care physicians by about 250 million in 1997. Energy medicine modalities, including therapeutic touch, healing touch, and reiki, are commonly utilized for conditions ranging from headache to cancer, yet understanding of the human energy field and how it may be used in healing is limited. This study will examine the effect of therapeutic touch on fracture healing in postmenopausal women. Women will be enrolled in the study within one week of a wrist fracture and will receive either therapeutic touch or a sham (placebo) treatment daily for 3 weeks. Assessments will include blood and urine analysis and measures of pain and function in the affected wrist.

Official TitleThe Effect of Therapeutic Touch on Bone Formation in Postmenopausal Women After Wrist Fracture 
NCT00079521P20AT000756-01P1
Principal SponsorNational Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
Last updated: January 13, 2026
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner

Protocol

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.
Design Details
125 patients to be enrolledTotal number of participants that the clinical trial aims to recruit.
Treatment Study
These studies test new ways to treat a disease, condition, or health issue. The goal is to see if a new drug, therapy, or approach works better or has fewer side effects than existing options.

How participants are assigned to different groups/arms
In this clinical study, participants are placed into groups randomly, like flipping a coin. This ensures that the study is fair and unbiased, making the results more reliable. By assigning participants by chance, researchers can better compare treatments without external influences.

Other Ways to Assign Participants
Non-randomized allocation: Participants are assigned based on specific factors, such as their medical condition or a doctor's decision.
None (Single-arm trial): If the study has only one group, all participants receive the same treatment, and no allocation is needed.

How treatments are given to participants
Participants receive different combinations of treatments to see how they work together. This approach helps researchers determine whether a combination of treatments is more effective than a single treatment alone.

Other Ways to Assign Treatments
Single-group assignment: Everyone gets the same treatment.
Parallel assignment: Participants are split into separate groups, each receiving a different treatment.
Cross-over assignment: Participants switch between treatments during the study.
Sequential assignment: Participants receive treatments one after another in a specific order, possibly based on individual responses.
Other assignment: Treatment assignment does not follow a standard or predefined design.

How the interventions assigned to participants is kept confidential
Neither participants nor researchers know who is receiving which treatment. This is the most rigorous way to reduce bias, ensuring that expectations do not influence the results.

Other Ways to Mask Information
Open-label: Everyone knows which treatment is being given.
Single-blind: Participants do not know which treatment they are receiving, but researchers do.
Triple-blind: Participants, researchers, and outcome assessors do not know which treatment is given.
Quadruple-blind: Participants, researchers, outcome assessors, and care providers all do not know which treatment is given.

Eligibility

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria: person's general health condition or prior treatments.
Conditions
Criteria
FemaleBiological sex of participants that are eligible to enroll.
From 40 to 85 YearsRange of ages for which participants are eligible to join.
Healthy volunteers allowedIf individuals who are healthy and do not have the condition being studied can participate.
Conditions
Pathology
Wrist Fractures
Arm Injuries
Bone Diseases
Bone Diseases, Metabolic
Metabolic Diseases
Musculoskeletal Diseases
Osteoporosis
Wounds and Injuries
Wrist Injuries
Fractures, Bone
Criteria

Inclusion Criertia: * Postmenopausal * Wrist fracture within 1 week of study entry * Able to travel to research center for daily treatment

Study Centers

These are the hospitals, clinics, or research facilities where the trial is being conducted. You can find the location closest to you and its status.
This study has 1 location
Suspended
University of Connecticut Health CenterFarmington, United StatesSee the location
CompletedOne Study Center
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