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Effects of Prayer on Pain Thresholds and Scores of Anxiety and Depression in Participants With and Without Migraine
Sponsor: University of Sao Paulo
Summary
This study comprised two separate assessor-blinded randomized crossover experiments, one in participants with migraine and one in participants without migraine. Within each cohort, participants completed two experimental conditions on separate study visits: 10 minutes of self-selected personal prayer and 10 minutes of non-spiritual reading. The order of the two conditions was randomized within each cohort. The primary outcome was cephalic pressure pain threshold (PPT), assessed immediately before and after each experimental condition at eight craniofacial sites. The study examined acute changes in PPT following prayer and reading. Spiritual well-being, religiosity, anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms were assessed once at baseline to characterize the participants and were not repeated following the experimental conditions. A total of 109 participants were enrolled: 57 participants with migraine and 52 participants without migraine.
Official title: The Effects of Prayer on Pain Thresholds and Scores of Anxiety and Depression in Patients With Migraine and Control: a Randomized Clinical Trial
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - 60 Years
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
109
Start Date
2023-09-29
Completion Date
2025-09-29
Last Updated
2026-09-03
Healthy Volunteers
Yes
Conditions
Interventions
Prayer Condition
Participants performed a 10-minute session of silent personal prayer using a prayer they were already familiar with and commonly practiced. Participants were instructed to pray in their usual way without vocalization, focusing on the content/meaning of the prayer. If distracted, they were asked to gently refocus on prayer.
Reading Condition
In the reading condition, participants read a non-spiritual text with no spiritual or religious content for 10 minutes. If distracted, they were instructed to refocus on the text.
Locations (1)
Institute of Psychiatry of the University of São Paulo
São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil