Divine intervention? A Cochrane review on intercessory prayer gone beyond science and reason.
We discuss in this commentary a recent Cochrane review of 10 randomised trials aimed at testing the religious belief that praying to a god can help those who are prayed for. The review concluded that the available studies merit additional research. However, the review presented a scientifically unsound mixture of theological and scientific arguments, and two of the included trials that had a large impact on the findings had problems that were not described in the review. The review fails to live up to the high standards required for Cochrane reviews.
Jørgensen
Karsten Juhl
KJ
Dept 3343, The Nordic Cochrane Centre, Rigshospitalet, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. kj@cochrane.dk
Hróbjartsson
Asbjørn
A
Gøtzsche
Peter C
PC
D029221:Faith Healing / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D012196:Review Literature as Topic; D012586:Science / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends