Showing posts with label research on prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label research on prayer. Show all posts

Jul 10, 2012

Study of Prayer on Auditory and Visual Impairment

The following is the abstract of a study published in the Southern Medical Journal on the effects of prayer on individuals with auditory and visual impairment.

Impairments in Rural Mozambique
Brown, Candy Gunther PhD; Mory, Stephen C. MD; Williams, Rebecca MB BChir, DTM&H; McClymond, Michael J. PhD

Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Proximal Intercessory Prayer (STEPP) on Auditory and Visual

Background: Proximal intercessory prayer (PIP) is a common complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapy, but clinical effects are poorly understood, partly because studies have focused on distant intercessory prayer (DIP).

Methods: This prospective study used an audiometer (Earscan® 3) and vision charts (40 cm, 6 m “Illiterate E”) to evaluate 24 consecutive Mozambican subjects (19 males/5 females) reporting impaired hearing (14) and/or vision (11) who subsequently received PIP interventions.

Results: We measured significant improvements in auditory (P <0.003) and visual (P <0.02) function across both tested populations.

Conclusions: Rural Mozambican subjects exhibited improved audition and/or visual acuity subsequent to PIP. The magnitude of measured effects exceeds that reported in previous suggestion and hypnosis studies. Future study seems warranted to assess whether PIP may be a useful adjunct to standard medical care for certain patients with auditory and/or visual impairments, especially in contexts where access to conventional treatment is limited.

Key Points

* Although commonly employed as a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapy, the clinical effects of proximal intercessory prayer (PIP) are poorly understood, partly because most research has focused on distant intercessory prayer (DIP).

* This study found a significant effect of PIP on auditory function across the tested population (P < 0.003).

* This study found a significant effect of PIP on visual function across the tested population (P < 0.02).

* Further study seems warranted to assess whether PIP may be a useful adjunct to standard medical care for certain patients with auditory and/or visual impairments, especially in contexts where access to conventional treatment is limited.

The full text of the article can be found here:
http://journals.lww.com/smajournalonline/Fulltext/2010/09000/Study_of_the_Therapeutic_Effects_of_Proximal.5.aspx