The Experience of Affective Touch in Obesity (AffTouch_OB)

Istituto Auxologico Italiano

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Obesity

Treatments: Behavioral: Affective touch paradigm

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05768685

21C128

Details and patient eligibility

About

The aim of the present research is to verify if the pleasantness of affective touch is comparable between women with obesity and healthy women, while measuring the level of social anhedonia and the lifespan experience of affective touch.

Enrollment: 60 estimated patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18 to 50 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• right-handed;
• diagnosis of obesity (i.e., the level of body mass index (BMI( greater than or equal to 30).

Exclusion criteria

• Concurrent neurological, neurodevelopmental (e.g., autism), motor, somatosensory and/or psychiatric disorders
• Evidence of any skin-related condition possibly affecting sensitivity on the participants' forearm (e.g., eczema, scars).

Trial design

60 participants in 2 patient groups

Cases

Description:

Right-handed women diagnosed with obesity will be consecutively recruited during their rehabilitative treatment at the Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, San Giuseppe Hospital (Italy). Concurrent neurological, neurodevelopmental (e.g., autism), motor, somatosensory and/or psychiatric disorders will be exclusion criteria, as well as the evidence of any skin-related condition possibly affecting sensitivity on the participants' forearm (e.g., eczema, scars)

Treatment:

Behavioral: Affective touch paradigm

Controls

Description:

Age-matched, right-handed, healthy women (i.e., with no history of eating disorders) will be recruited outside the hospital through personal contacts of the researchers and word-of-mouth.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Affective touch paradigm