Effect of Healing on Rheumatoid Arthritis (RAhealing)

Henning Bliddal

Status: Completed

Conditions: Rheumatoid Arthritis

Treatments: Other: Healing; Other: Sham healing

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT00967395

(KF) 01-123/04

Details and patient eligibility

About

The hypothesis is that healing may influence the patient's general status by altering psychological as well as other body functions of importance for the rheumatoid arthritis. This is tested in a three group design with a control group and two groups receiving healing with or without a healer present. The study is randomized and double blind.

Full description

The central claim of healers is that this process facilitates self-healing in the patient. Spiritual healing includes several categories, including 'therapeutic touch' and 'intercessory prayer', and the healing may be attributed to God, spirits, universal forces or energies, biological healing energies residing in the healer, or self-healing powers or energies thought to reside latent in the healed organism. The highly controversial hypothesized effects of distant or spiritual healing contradict our traditional sense of reality and are in conflict with what is generally viewed as being in correspondence with modern science.

Enrollment: 90 estimated patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Patients with rheumatoid arthritis in a stable medication the past 3 months written informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• Not able to arrange own transport, language problems

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Quadruple Blind

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90 participants in 3 patient groups

Healing

Experimental group

Description:

patients receive healing while blindfolded and with hearing protector. The healer is behind a screen and not allowed to speak with the subject.

Treatment:

Other: Healing

Sham healing

Sham Comparator group

Description:

Same design of room as with the healing, while in this case a student is behind the screen

Treatment:

Other: Sham healing

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Business as usual in the third arm