TABLE 1.
Patients' Status on Entry |
|
Entry Variables |
Intercessory
Prayer Group
(n = 192) |
Control
Group
(n = 201) |
P |
| Age (mean ± SD) |
58.2 ± 14.8 |
60.1 ± 15.0 |
NS |
| Sex: Female |
65 |
63 |
NS |
| Male |
127 |
138 |
NS |
| Time (days, mean ± SD)* |
0.9 ± 1.2 |
0.9 ± 1.1 |
NS |
Primary Cardiac Diagnosis |
% |
(No.) |
% |
(No.) |
P |
| Congestive heart failure |
33 |
(63) |
33 |
(66) |
NS |
| Cardiomegaly |
32 |
(62) |
32 |
(64) |
NS |
| prior myocardial infarction |
30 |
(57) |
26 |
(50) |
NS |
| Acute myocardial infarction |
27 |
(51) |
29 |
(58) |
NS |
| Unstable angina |
25 |
(48) |
30 |
(61) |
NS |
| Chest pain, cause unknown |
19 |
(36) |
15 |
(31) |
NS |
| Acute pulmonary edema |
13 |
(25) |
13 |
(27) |
NS |
| Syncope |
11 |
(21) |
6 |
(12) |
NS |
| Cardiomyopathy |
8 |
(16) |
9 |
(17) |
NS |
| Supraventricular tachyarrhythmia |
8 |
(15) |
12 |
(24) |
NS |
| VT/VF |
8 |
(14) |
9 |
(17) |
NS |
| Intubation/ventilation |
6 |
(11) |
10 |
(19) |
NS |
| Valvular heart disease |
5 |
(8) |
8 |
(15) |
NS |
| Hypotension (systolic <90 torr) |
4 |
(8) |
5 |
(10) |
NS |
| Cardiopulmonary arrest |
4 |
(8) |
6 |
(12) |
NS |
| Third-degree heart block |
2 |
(3) |
1 |
(1) |
NS |
Primary Noncardiac
Diagnosis |
|
|
|
|
|
| Diabetes mellitus |
8 |
(16) |
9 |
(18) |
NS |
| COPD |
8 |
(15) |
10 |
(19) |
NS |
| Gastrointestinal bleeding |
5 |
(10) |
2 |
(3) |
NS |
| Severe hypertension |
5 |
(10) |
7 |
(13) |
NS |
| Pneumonia |
5 |
(9) |
4 |
(7) |
NS |
| .Chronic renal failure |
4 |
(8) |
4 |
(8) |
NS |
| Trauma |
4 |
(7) |
3 |
(6) |
NS |
| Cerebrovascular accident |
4 |
(7) |
2 |
(4) |
NS |
| Drug overdose |
3 |
(5) |
3 |
(5) |
NS |
| Sepsis |
2 |
(3) |
2 |
(4) |
NS |
| Cirrhosis of the liver |
2 |
(9) |
1 |
(2) |
NS |
| Pulmonary emboli |
1 |
(2) |
1 |
(1) |
NS |
| Systemic emboli |
1 |
(2) |
0 |
(0) |
NS |
| Hepatitis |
0 |
(0) |
1 |
(2) |
NS |
NS = P > .05. VT/NF = ventricular tachycardia/ventricular
fibrillation;
COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
*Time from admission to the coronary care unit to
randomization.
daily devotional prayer and active Christian
fellowship with a local church. Members of several protestant churches and the Roman
Catholic Church were represented among the intercessors. Patients and intercessors were
not matched by religion or denomination. After randomization, each patient was assigned to
three to seven intercessors. The patients' first name, diagnosis, and general
condition, along with pertinent updates in their condition, were given to the
intercessors. The intercessory prayer was done outside of the hospital daily until the
patient was discharged from the hospital. Under the direction of a coordinator, each
intercessor was asked to pray daily for a rapid recovery and for prevention of
complications and death, in addition to other areas of prayer they believed to be
beneficial to the patient.
DATA ANALYSIS
I collected the information on each patient in a blinded manner, without
knowledge of the spiritual status, condition, or ideas of the entrants during the study.
Data were subsequently collated |
TABLE 2. Results of
Intercessory Prayer |
|
Study Variable |
Intercessory
Prayer |
Control
Group |
P |
| Days in CCU after entry |
2.0 ± 2.5 |
2.4 ± 4.1 |
NS |
| Days.in hospital after entry |
7.6 ± 8.9 |
7.6 ± 8.7 |
NS |
| Number of discharge medications |
3.7 ± 2.2 |
4.0 ± 2.4 |
NS |
| New Problems, Diagnoses, and Therapeutic
Events After Entry |
% |
(No.) |
% |
(No.) |
P |
| Antianginal agents |
11 |
(21) |
10 |
(19) |
NS |
| Unstable angina |
10 |
(20) |
9 |
(18) |
NS |
| Antiarrhythmics |
9 |
(17) |
13 |
(27) |
NS |
| Coronary angiography |
9 |
(17) |
11 |
(21) |
NS |
| VTNF |
7 |
(14) |
9 |
(17) |
NS |
| Readmissions to CCU |
7 |
(14) |
7 |
(14) |
NS |
| Mortality |
7 |
(13) |
9 |
(17) |
NS |
| Congestive heart failure |
4 |
(8) |
10 |
(20) |
<0.01 |
| Inotropic agents |
4 |
(8) |
8 |
(16) |
NS |
| Vasodilators |
4 |
(8) |
6 |
(12) |
NS |
| Supraventricular tachyarrhythmia |
4 |
(8) |
8 |
(15) |
NS |
| Arterial pressure monitoring |
4 |
(7) |
8 |
(15) |
NS |
| Central pressure monitoring |
3 |
(6) |
7 |
(15) |
NS |
| Diuretics |
3 |
(5) |
8 |
(15) |
<0.01 |
| Major surgery before discharge |
3 |
(5) |
7 |
(14) |
NS |
| Temporary pacemaker |
2 |
(4) |
1 |
(1) |
NS |
| Sepsis |
2 |
(4) |
4 |
(7) |
NS |
| Cardiopulmonary arrest |
2 |
(3) |
7 |
(14) |
<0.01 |
| Third-degree heart block |
2 |
(3) |
1 |
(2) |
NS |
| Pneumonia |
2 |
(3) |
7 |
(13) |
<0.01 |
| Hypotension (systolic <90 torr) |
2 |
(3) |
4 |
(7) |
NS |
| Extension of infarction |
2 |
(3) |
3 |
(6) |
NS |
| Antibiotics |
2 |
(3) |
9 |
(17) |
<0.01 |
| Permanent pacemaker |
2 |
(3) |
1 |
(1) |
NS |
| Gastrointestinal bleeding |
1 |
(1) |
2 |
(3) |
NS |
| Intubation/ventilation |
0 |
(0) |
6 |
(12) |
<0.01 |
NS = P > .05; VT/NF = ventricular tachycardia or ventricular
fibrillation
and entered into a PDP-11 computer for analysis
using the Biomedical Data Processing (BMDP) statistical package.7 The data were
analyzed with an unpaired t-test for interval data and a chi square test (or Fisher's
exact test when necessary) for categorical data. A stepwise logistic regression was used
for the multivariate analysis.8, 9 Interval data were expressed as the mean ±
1 standard deviation.
RESULTS
Data collected on each patient as he entered in the study (Table 1)
revealed the condition of the patient groups at the time informed consent was signed. The
109 patients with acute myocardial infarction had the following Killip's
classification class I, 16% (prayer group) vs 16% (control group); class II, 8% vs 10%;
class III, 1% vs 1%, and class IV, 2% vs 2% (P = NS). Univariate and multivariate
analysis showed no statistic differences between the two groups at entry. Thus, it was
concluded that the two groups were statistically inseparable and that results from the
analysis of the effects of intercessory prayer would be valid.
After entry, all patients had follow-up for the remainder of the
hospitalization. New problems, new diagnoses, and new therapeutic interventions that occurred after entry into the study were recorded and are summarized
in Table 2. Of the |