Can a files date it was created change just by accessing it? ( in the properties of a word doent)?

my guy claims he made a doent a year ago thats in word and incriminating but the properties of the doc says it was created and modified a week ago..hes an I.T. professional and claims that even just highlighting a file can change its creation date. as well as to claim he hasnt accessed the file for months. I dont believe him sounds like a crock of @#%$ SO is it true can the date of a file creation change?