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No Effect of Intercessory Prayer Has Been Proven
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In the recent article by Harris et al,1 the effects of remote, intercessory prayer on the medical course of patients in the coronary care unit (CCU) had borderline statistical significance at best. Of 40 measures (35 Mid America Heart Institute–Cardiac Care Unit [MAHI-CCU] score components, the weighted and unweighted overall MAHI-CCU scores, length of CCU stay, length of hospital stay, and Byrd score), 2 were significant (P<.05). One in 20 is classically what one would expect to be significant by chance; the 2 significant measures reported by Harris et al were the overall MAHI-CCU scores—essentially the same thing.
Statistical significance is not the only way to look at the value of a treatment, however. One can calculate the effect or the number of people one would need to pray for to produce an improvement. It is appropriate, of course, to keep in mind the confidence interval (CI) of . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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