Investigation of the Physiological and Psychological Effects of Touching with Minimal Surface Pressure for Short Periods of Time

Abstract

　Terminally ill patients have difficulty maintaining the same body position for long periods of time and strong pressure can be a burden on them. To identify touching techniques that can be used for these patients, we investigated the physiological and psychological effects of touching the skin surface with weak pressure for short periods of time. The results revealed a significant increase in skin temperature and a decrease in pulse rate immediately after and 10 minutes after touch intervention, compared with before intervention. In a psychological scale measuring relaxation effect, scores for all four items changed significantly towards greater relaxation immediately after and 10 minutes after touch intervention compared with before intervention. The results of these studies demonstrated the relaxation effects of touching performed with weak pressure for a short duration.