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Receiving touch is of critical importance, as many studies have shown that touch promotes mental and physical well-being. Included studies always featured a touch versus no touch control intervention with diverse health outcomes as dependent variables. Risk of bias was assessed via small study, randomization, sequencing, performance and attrition bias.
Comparing touch interventions involving objects or robots resulted in similar physical 0. Adult clinical cohorts profited more strongly in mental health domains compared with healthy individuals 0. We found no difference in health benefits in adults when comparing touch applied by a familiar person or a health care professional 0.
Small but significant small study bias and the impossibility to blind experimental conditions need to be considered. Leveraging factors that influence touch intervention efficacy will help maximize the benefits of future interventions and focus research in this field. The sense of touch has immense importance for many aspects of our life.
It is the first of all the senses to develop in newborns 1 and the most direct experience of contact with our physical and social environment 2. Complementing our own touch experience, we also regularly receive touch from others around us, for example, through consensual hugs, kisses or massages 3. The recent coronavirus pandemic has raised awareness regarding the need to better understand the effects that touchβand its reduction during social distancingβcan have on our mental and physical well-being.
