Table 4f. Biofield studies conducted with healthy populations, in order of total quality ratings (highest to lowest). Problematic studies marked with an asterisk (*).(HT = Healing Touch, TT = Therapeutic Touch, TAU= Treatment as Usual, STAI = State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, POMS = Profile of Mood States, VAS = Visual Analog Scale)
Study Reference / Patient Population (N, gender, ethnicity) / Intervention(s)(duration, design) / Biomarkers
examined / Psych and other outcome variables / Results / Study +/- / Comments
Wirth & Cram
(1993) / 12 healthy volunteers (6 men, 6 women; mean age 35; ethnicity not reported) / W/in Ss design
TT
Mimic TT
ABAC design of 20-28min total, so A was control, and B and C were 5-7 min each of TT or Q. Random assignment of TT or mock.
Treatment administered behind Ss who sat in backless chair.
2 TT practitioners administered TT and mock TT; individual experience unclear / multisite EMG (frontalis and paraspinal muscle groups
skin temperature (hand and head)
CO2 levels
Respiration rate / None / Significant increase in hand temperature and decrease in cervical, T6, and L3 EMG for TT compared to baseline
Significant increase in C4 and L3 EMG for mimic TT compared to baseline
Significant difference between TT and mimic TT on cervical, T6, and L3 EMG; TT showed decreases in activity while mimic TT showed increases
No significant differences in respiration rate, head temp, frontal EMG, or C02 levels / + placebo control
+ alpha control for multiple tests
+ maintained blindness of participants
+ tested for order/sequence effects
- no self report measures / Participants were meditators who were asked to meditate during entire 20-28 min of procedure; thus “baseline” is actually during meditation
(Wirth et al., 1997) / 44 healthy volunteers (mean age = 31; no info on ethnicity or gender breakdown)
16 = students/patients of Qigong
14 = students/patients of TT
14 = nonbelievers of complementary healing / W/in Ss design
TT
Qigong (external)
ABAC design of 20min total, so A was control, and B and C were 5 min each of TT or Q.
Random assignment of TT or Q first.
Treatment administered behind Ss who sat in backless chair.
One TT practitioner adminstered TT, one Qigong Master administered external Qigong / multisite EMG (frontalis and paraspinal muscle groups / None / Qigong group showed significantly increased muscle energy during Qigong, and less during TT
TT showed “modest drops” in muscle activity during Qigong and TT
Skeptics showed little change throughout / + comparison group
+ elegant design to test potential effects of belief and practice on physiological response
- no self-report measures / suggests differential response to treatment modality based on belief and experience of receivers
clinical implications unclear
Study Reference / Patient Population (N, gender, ethnicity) / Intervention(s)
(duration, design) / Biomarkers
examined / Psych and other outcome variables / Results / Study +/- / Comments
(Naito et al., 2003) / 48 Healthy students undergoing exams (male = 22, female = 26; age range 19-37; no ethnicity reported / B/wn Ss design
Self-hypnosis (n = 16)
Johrei (n = 16)
Mock neurofeedback (n = 15)
Self-hypnosis taught by experienced clinical hypnotist
Johrei taught by experienced Johrei practitioner; participants practiced Johrei on each other
4-week intervention with training sessions of 2 hrs/week; within each 2 hr session, 20 min hypnosis practice, 30 min neurofeedback, and 40 min Johrei practice; participants also instructed to practice at home. / Lymphocyte subsets:
CD4+ (Thelper) CD8+ (Tcyto)
CD56+(NKcell)
NK cytotoxic activity / Perceived stress scale (PSS; used to measure potential moderating effects of stress on intervention outcomes)
Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility (used to correlate with change scores for immune variables)
Tellegan Absorption Scale (used to correlate with change scores for immune variables) / Group x time interaction for %NK cells: Johrei group showed increased % NK cells over time, hypnosis and neurofeedback did not. 14/15 Johrei participants showed this pattern, where patterns in other groups were not consistent.
Group x time interaction for %CD8+ cells: Hypnosis group showed increase in % CD8+ cells over time, other groups did not
Group x time interaction for %CD4+ cells; Johrei showed trend for decreased %CD4+ cells, mock neurofeedback group showed trend for increase.
No significant group differences in NK cytotoxic activity
Belief iassociated with higher hypnotizability in hypnosis group, and higher absorption in Johrei and relaxation groups, but was not associated with immune outcomes / + comparison group
+ placebo control
+ innovative design
+tested for moderating effects
- no alpha control for multiple statistical tests
- no control for covariates / Tested for potential moderating effects of stress on intervention effects
Examined potential associations with belief in intervention with outcomes
Johrei group showed immune profile unique from self-hypnosis, and consistent with reduced stress
27% attrition
Johrei practice twice as long as self-hypnosis in weekly sessions
(Mackay et al., 2004) / 45 Healthy volunteers (male = 21, female = 24); ages 23-59 (no mean given); ethnicity info not reported / B/wn Ss design
Reiki
Mock Reiki
No-treatment (rest) control
0ne 30-min session
Reiki practitioner level/experience not reported / Heart rate, BP, cardiac vagal tone (CVT), cardiac sensitivity to baroreflex (CSB), breathing rate / NONE / Between-group difference for HR; Reiki group showed lower HR than other groups
Trend for higher CVT for Reiki vs. other groups (p = .066)
Within-group analyses showed that Reiki and placebo had decreased HR and breathing rate, and increased CVT and CSB; only Reiki showed significant decreases in DBP and MAP
No changes in control group / + mock and control conditions used
- only one practitioner used / No psychological measures reported in study
Reiki and placebo groups showed similar responses, but Reiki showed significantly greater decreases in HR and a significant decrease in DBP compared to placebo
Study Reference / Patient Population (N, gender, ethnicity) / Intervention(s)
(duration, design) / Biomarkers
examined / Psych and other outcome variables / Results / Study +/- / Comments
(M. S. Lee et al., 2001a) / 20 Healthy male volunteers (mean age 26; ethnicity not reported) / B/wn Ss design
Qi-therapy (n = 10)
Placebo Qi-therapy (n = 10)
One male Qi master with 8 years experience conducted both real and placebo treatments of 10 min / Serum cortisol
Neutrophil superoxide generation
NK cell activity / STAI
Tuchman’s Mood Thermometer / Significant group x time interaction for STAI and Mood Thermometer ; qi-therapy showed greater decreases than placebo qi-therapy
Significant group x time interaction for superoxide generation and NK activity; qi-therapy group showed increase for both measures compared to placebo - these values returned to baseline after 1 hour
Significant group x time interaction for melatonin; qi-therapy group showed pre-post increase, while placebo group showed pre-post decrease
Both groups showed decrease in cortisol pre-post / + placebo control
+ control for diurnal variability for cortisol / Only one practitioner used
(M. S. Lee et al., 2005b) / 30 healthy participants (all male; mean age 27 years; ethnicity not reported) / Crossover design
Qi-therapy
Sham Qi-therapy
One Qi-master with 8 years experience administered both Qi therapy and sham Qi therapy
5 minute sessions daily for 2 consecutive days, then switched conditions; participants counterbalanced for order / Heart Rate
Linear analysis of heart rate variability:
LF (.04-.15 Hz)
HF (.15-.4 Hz)
LF/HF ratio
Nonlinear analysis of heart rate variability:
SD1
SD2
SD1/SD2
ApEn / Semantic Differential Scale (SDS) / Participants rated Qi-therapy as significantly more pleasurable and less arousing than sham Qi-therapy
Qi therapy condition showed significantly lower heart rate, lower LF/HF ratio, larger SD1/SD2, and larger ApEn than sham Qi-therapy / + placebo control
+proper counterbalancing of conditions and participants
- no assessment/control for potential covariates
- only one practitioner used / Little information given on SDS measure (no reference to original scale or mention of reliability/validity)
Study appears to replicate prior findings with extension to nonlinear indices of heart rate variability
(Sneed et al., 2001) / 40 healthy men & women, 30 useable
n = 3 men
n = 27 women
ages 23-55 / W/in Ss design
TT
3 practitioners >10y exp
Ss were supine, duration from 6-16 min / Spectral analysis of HRV / STAI, VAS for stress/anxiety / Sig reduction in VAS stress for TT practitioners and participants pre-post sessions
Significantly higher HF/LF ratio post-tx for entire group – 23 showed positive change scores, 7 showed negative. 4 subjects showed greatly increased HF/LF, which drove the significance– these outliers did not differ on stress or other characteristics / + assessed & controlled for covariates
+ assessed practitioner as well as patient response
- no control group / nonstressed population, only LF/HF data reported
Suggests individual differences in HRV responses to TT
Study Reference / Patient Population (N, gender, ethnicity) / Intervention(s)
(duration, design) / Biomarkers
examined / Psych and other outcome variables / Results / Study +/- / Comments
(Wilkinson et al., 2002) * / 22 healing touch-naive persons 19 women, 3 men; mean age 38; 82% Caucasian, 14% African American, 4% Latino-American / W/in Ss design
3 sessions in a 2-wk period:
One session of no treatment (NT, lying on bed),
one HT
one HT+guided imagery and music
(30-45min each session)
9 HT practitioners split into more vs. less training / sIgA / Likert-based ratings of stress and relaxation; items from HEALTH tool to assess placebo response / Reported overall change in sIgA over time for those with more experienced practitioners; sig dif between pretest and HT+guided imagery means
Post treatment stress ratings sig lower than pretest ratings for both HT conditions (but do not report ratings after NT condition) / + control condition
+ nomothetic and ideographic approaches used
+ examined potential effects of practitioner training level
- no counterbalancing of order with a sufficient washout period
-use of unvalidated psych measures
-unclear interpretability of sIgA analysis due to no explanation of potential baseline difference between groups / unclear why authors used different analytic methods for sIgA and psych ratings
no indication of control for diurnal variation of sIgA
Rated problematic due to ambiguitiy of potential baseline differences
(M. S. Lee et al., 2003a) / 28 healthy participants (all male, age and ethnicity not reported) / B/wn Ss design
Qi-therapy
Sham Qi-therapy
One Qi-Master with >1year of training administered both Qi therapy and sham Qi therapy
One 10 min session / Concentrations of immune cells:
White blood cells (WBC)
Neutrophils
Lymphocytes
Monocytes / none / Significant group x time interaction for lymphocyte and monocyte concentration:
Placebo group showed significant immediate decreases in lymphocyte and monocytes Qi-therapy group showed increase in monocyte concentration immediately after therapy, but returned to baseline 1 hr later / - Rudimentary method of calculating concentrations (cell counter) ; blinding of experimenter not reported
- only one practitioner used / Means reported in paper do not match authors’ interpretation of statistical results
(M. S. Lee et al., 2005a) / 40 healthy participants (all male, 23 years old, ethnicity not reported) / B/wn Ss design
Qi-therapy
Sham Qi-therapy
One Qi-Master (exp not reported) administered both Qi therapy and sham Qi therapy
One 10 min session / Spectral analysis of heart rate variability:
LF (.04-.15 Hz)
HF (.15-.4 Hz)
LF/HF ratio / none / Significant group x time interaction for LF, HF, and LF/HF ratio: Qi-therapy group showed increased HF, decreased LF, and decreased LF/HF ratio compared to sham group; Qi-therapy also showed sig less HR / + placebo control
- no assessment/control for potential covariates
- only one practitioner used
Study Reference / Patient Population (N, gender, ethnicity) / Intervention(s)
(duration, design) / Biomarkers
examined / Psych and other outcome variables / Results / Study +/- / Comments
(Wardell & Engebretson, 2001)* / 23 Healthy volunteers (male = 5, female = 18; mean age = 41; 82.6% Cauc, 13% Asian, 4.3% Hispanic) / Within-Ss design
One 30-min session of Reiki
1 Reiki master with >20 yrs experience conducted interventions / sIgA and salivary cortisol
SBP, DBP, and MAP
GSR, EMG / STAI / Sig increase in IgA
Decrease in STAI
Decrease in SBP
No dif in DBP, MAP, GSR, EMG, cortisol / - no control group
- no alpha control
- only one practitioner used / Reiki master had considerable years of experience
Rated problematic b/c no means and SD reported
(M. S. Lee et al., 2003c) / 7 Healthy participants; (all male; mean age 28; ethnicity not reported (study in Korea) / Within-Ss design
10 min pre Qi therapy
After Qi Therapy
1 hr post – Qi therapy
Qi therapy administered by Qi master with 5 years training, for 5 minutes / In vivo Neutrophil Superoxide Generation / none / In vivo superoxide generation showed significant increase immediately after QT compared to pre-QT; returned to baseline 1 hr after QT / - no placebo control
- no control group
- only one practitioner used / Only one outcome measure used
(LaFreniere et al., 1999)* / 41 Healthy women, ages 30-64 / Between-Ss design
Therapeutic Touch (TT)
Control group
3 sessions, one every month –session duration unclear / (urine)
cortisol, dopamine, nitite (for NO) / POMS, STAI / Group x time interaction for POMS total mood disturbance - TT group had less total disturbance, sig subscales were less confusion, increased vigor.
Also group x time interaction for STAI, TT group less
Sig within group decrease of urine nitrite by 3rd TT session / - No assessment or control for baseline measures
- No control for or assessment of covariates (e.g. menopausal status)
- only one practitioner used
-means and SD not reported / No info on duration of treatment sessions
Played music during TT sessions
Rated problematic due to ambiguity of baseline differences and no means/SD reported
(Lee et al., 2004) / 10 Healthy participants (mean age 23; gender and ethnicity not reported) / Within-Ss design
External qi therapy
Placebo qi therapy
One male Qi master with 8 years experience conducted both real and placebo qi therapy for 5 min / EEG
serum cortisol / Semantic Differential Scale / Alpha power increased and beta power decreased in qi-therapy condition compared to placebo
Plasma cortisol concentrations decreased during qi therapy compared to placebo
Subjects reported increased relaxation and calmness during qi-therapy compared to placebo / + placebo control
- no control for baseline measures of cortisol or EEG
- only one practitioner used
- no info on counterbalancing order of conditions
- no info on reliability/validity of psych measure / Unclear whether time of day was controlled for for cortisol samples