Clinical Trials of Prayer
June 2000; Volume 3; 63
In perhaps the most widely known clinical study of intercessory prayer (IP), 393 patients admitted to the coronary care unit (CCU) of the San Francisco General Hospital were randomized to customary care (control) or customary care plus IP.1 Between three and seven Christian intercessors prayed daily on behalf of the patients for rapid recovery and prevention of complications and death until discharge. Although no significant differences were found between the two groups for rapid recovery or prevention of complications and death, by the time of discharge, the prayer group was less likely than the control group to have experienced congestive heart failure, cardiopulmonary arrest, and pneumonia, or to have required diuretics, antibiotics, or intubation and mechanical ventilation (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the group receiving IP was significantly less likely to require ventilatory support, antibiotics, or diuretics (P < 0.0001). Based on outcome, defined criteria were used to grade hospital course as good, intermediate, or bad. In the IP group, good, intermediate, and bad were 85%, 1%, and 14%, respectively, vs. 73%, 5%, and 22% in the control group. A chi-square analysis demonstrated significantly better outcome in the prayer group (P < 0.01).
More recently, researchers at the Mid America Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, MO, looked at the effect of IP on 990 patients in the CCU.2 In a randomized, controlled, double-blind trial, Christian intercessors prayed daily for 28 days for "speedy recovery with no complications" of patients in the IP group. This trial was completely blind, with neither hospital staff nor patients aware of the ongoing study. Although these researchers found no significant difference in length of hospital and CCU stay, they did find 11% improvement (P = 0.04) in overall outcome in the IP group. However, they questioned the clinical significance, noting that it is difficult to separate people into prayer and non-prayer groups when there is a possibility that patients were already receiving IP.
In an ongoing study of cardiovascular disease in African-Americans, Herman Taylor, MD, a cardiologist at the University of Mississippi in Jackson, and his team of researchers are developing questionnaires and research techniques to study the role of religion and spirituality in patients’ lives and how it may affect health. Taylor says studying the medical alongside the spiritual may enable his team to determine how two seemingly opposite forces may actually work together.
References
1. Byrd RC. Positive therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer in a coronary care unit population. South Med J 1988;81:826-829.
2. Harris WS, et al. A randomized, controlled trial of the effects of remote, intercessory prayer on outcomes in patients admitted to the coronary care unit. Arch Int Med 1999;159:2273-2278.
June 2000; Volume 3; 63
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content