Abstract |
Our objective was to investigate the efficacy of "energy/ spiritual healing" in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Eligible patients were women with RA on stable medication. The design was a randomised, blinded, sham-controlled trial; the third group included an external unblinded control of the natural course of RA. Participants in both groups received 8 sessions with "perceived healing" over 21 weeks with 8 weeks of follow-up. Active healing (AH) treatment comprised healing with no physical contact, and sham healing (SH) included exactly the same healing with a sham healer. During intervention, participants wore hearing protectors and were blindfolded. No healing (NH) only had their outcomes assessed. Coprimary outcomes were disease activity score ( DAS) for 28 joints and Doppler ultrasound. All 96 patients randomised were handled as the intention-to-treat population, using a baseline-carried forward approach to replace the missing data. Eighty-two (85%) participants completed the 29-week trial. At end point (week 29), mean difference in DAS28 between AH versus SH was statistically but not clinically significant in favour of AH (0.62 DAS28 points; 95% CI: 0.13 to 1.11; P = 0.014), while no differences between groups occurred in Doppler ultrasound. There are no clear physiological or psychological explanations for the findings in this tightly controlled study. The trial data indicates a need for independent replication.
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Authors | Henning Bliddal, Robin Christensen, Lars Højgaard, Else Marie Bartels, Karen Ellegaard, Robert Zachariae, Bente Danneskiold-Samsøe |
Journal | Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM
(Evid Based Complement Alternat Med)
Vol. 2014
Pg. 269431
( 2014)
ISSN: 1741-427X [Print] United States |
PMID | 25614748
(Publication Type: Journal Article)
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