No efficacy of biofield therapy in the treatment of warts of the hands and feet in adults: a randomized controlled trial

Though biofield therapy is unexplained by scientific evidence, it has been practiced for years by numerous patients for a variety of conditions. This study aimed to determine whether one session of biofield therapy with an experienced practitioner could treat warts of the hands and feet in adults. A single-blind, assessor-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial was performed between April 2016 and November 2018. The participants enrolled had at least one wart on the hand or foot lasting for at least 90 days and were not taking any therapy for it. The primary outcome of this trial was the disappearance of the original wart 3 weeks after session of proximal nontouch biofield therapy versus a sham session. No original wart had disappeared 3 weeks after intervention (0/64) which made the study impossible to conclude on the primary objective. There were no significant differences between the two groups concerning warts disappearance 3 weeks after intervention (p=0,49) nor at 6-weeks (p=0.40), reduction in size at week-3 was more promising for biofield therapy but not significant (p=0.27). No related side effects were observed. The major concern of this trial was the short follow-up time for measurement of clinical outcome that did not allow to verify the hypothesis. However, this study shows that 3 weeks after a session of proximal nontouch biofield therapy is a too short term to assess biofield therapy in comparison to a sham session. Based on this, biofield therapy cannot be recommended to treat warts in 3 weeks.


PMID: 33639007 DOI: 10.1111/ced.14623