In vitro fertilization prayer study (June 29, 2004).
High on my priority list is a page talking about the recent prayer studies. These are interesting studies because they highlight important issues about causation. I've already discussed a retrospective prayer study that highlights the importance of temporality. Issue #22 of the eSkeptic newsletter discusses apparent fraud in a different prayer study.
An additional report on fraud in the prayer study appears in the news and comment section of The Scientist, an open source publication of BioMedCentral. Thanks to a reader of this weblog for sending in this link.
The study in question,
- Does prayer influence the success of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer? Report of a masked, randomized trial. Cha KY, Wirth DP, Lobo RA. J Reprod Med. 2001 Sep;46(9):781-7. [Medline] [Abstract] [Full text]
showed that the prayer group had a doubling in the pregnancy rate (50% vs 26%) and in the implantation rate (16% vs 8%) compared to controls. Like many prayer studies, the researchers did not seek informed consent from the patients.
I've always been perplexed by this omission. The reasoning is that you avoid selection bias, but you would still have randomization after getting consent. So the internal validity of the study would be just fine. Perhaps this might affect external validity, but I view this as a minor problem. We should bend over backwards to respect patient autonomy, even if it means sacrificing some level of scientific validity. There are times when the loss of scientific validity is so severe that it would justify bypassing the consent process. But not with these prayer studies.
I can't find much coverage of the fraud issue, which is a complaint mentioned in the eSkeptic newsletter. It seems that these studies make a big splash when they are first published but no one remembers or cares about the later retraction. If anything, most web pages cite this study in support of the hypothesis that prayer can heal.
I've only started to accumulate a bibliography on this topic, but here are a few references and web sites.
- Effects of remote, retroactive intercessory prayer on outcomes in patients with bloodstream infection: randomised controlled trial. Leibovici L. British Medical Journal 2001: 323(7327); 1450-1. [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]
- The efficacy of "distant healing": a systematic review of randomized trials. Astin JA, Harkness E, Ernst E. Annals of Internal Medicine 2000: 132(11); 903-10. [Medline]
- Intercessory prayer and cardiovascular disease progression in a coronary care unit population: a randomized controlled trial. Aviles JM, Whelan SE, Hernke DA, Williams BA, Kenny KE, O'Fallon WM, Kopecky SL. Mayo Clin Proc. 2001 Dec;76(12):1192-8. [Medline]
- Intercessory prayer for the alleviation of ill health (Cochrane Review). Roberts L, Ahmed I, Hall S. In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 2, 2004. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
- Prayer, science, and the moral life of medicine. Bishop JP. Arch Intern Med. 2003 Jun 23;163(12):1405-8. [Medline]
- A Randomized, Controlled Trial of the Effects of Remote, Intercessory Prayer on Outcomes in Patients Admitted to the Coronary Care Unit. Harris WS, Gowda M, Kolb JW, Strychacz CP, Vacek JL, Jones PG, Forker A, O’Keefe JH, McCallister BD. Archives of Internal Medicine 1999: 159(19); 2273-2278. [Medline]
- Statistical Inquiries into the Efficacy of Prayer. Galton SF. Fortnightly Review 1872: 12; 125-135. [Full text] [PDF]
- Systematic review of clinical trials examining the effects of religion on health. Townsend M, Kladder V, Ayele H, Mulligan T. South Med J. 2002 Dec;95(12):1429-34. [Medline]
- Can Science Prove that Prayer Works?. Avalos H, Council for Secular Humanism. Accessed on 2004-06-01. www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/avalos_17_3.html
- Case Teaching Notes for Prayer Study: Science or Not?. Gallucci K, Elon University. Accessed on 2004-06-01. www.sciencecases.org/prayer/prayer_notes.asp
- Human Research Subject Protections Under Multiple Project Assurance (MPA) M-1356 Research Project: Does Prayer Influence the Success of In Vitro Fertilization-Embryo Transfer? [pdf] Carome MA, Office for Human Research Protections. Accessed on 2004-06-01. ohrp.osophs.dhhs.gov/detrm_letrs/dec01f.pdf
- Is Prayer Clinically Effective?. Myers DG. Accessed on 2003-09-09. www.davidmyers.org/religion/prayer.html
- On Assessing Prayer, Faith, and Health. Myers DG. Accessed on 2003-09-09. http://www.davidmyers.org/religion/faith.html
- A Prayer Before Dying. Bronson P. Accessed on 2003-09-09. www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.12/prayer.html?pg=1
- Positive Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer in a Coronary Care Unit Population. Rudolph C. Byrd. Southern Medical Journal (volume 81, pages 826-829, 1988. [Medline] Reprinted at www.godandscience.org/apologetics/smj.pdf
Update: January 21, 2005: A letter to the editor pointing out some of the criticisms of the In vitro fertilization prayer study was published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine
- Prayer and the Success of IVF. BL Flamm. Journal of Reproductive Medicine 2005 (January). 50(1); 71.
and appears on the web at
This is a rather generic web address, so I suspect it will change when the next issue of this journal appears.
This webpage was written by Steve Simon and was last modified on 07/08/2008. Category: Corroborating evidence