Prayer therapy (recitation of surah Al-Hamd and Towhid): its effects on quality of life in patients suffering from with multiple sclerosis (MS)
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Abstract :
Objectives: The study aims to examine the effect of intercessory prayer on the lives of MS patients. Methods: This before - and - after study was performed on 12 MS patients admitted to a health care clinic. The patients were told about the intervention and filled in the informed consent. Every week Hands – on and remote recitation of Hamd and Towhid surahs was performed for 8 consecutive weeks. Quality of life was measured before and after the trial with Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life (MSQOL – 54). Wilcoxon signed ranks test through SPSS version 10 was used for non – parametric statistical analysis. Results: The results showed a significant enhancement in the area of "physical health", "energy", and "physical health composite", P=0.04, P=0.02 and p= 0.02 respectively. All of them also announced subjective improvement in their motivation and mood. Conclusion: This study shows the effectiveness of intercessory prayer on some aspects of the quality of life in a chronic disease such as Multiple Sclerosis. Controlled studies with larger sample size and longer follow-up period are recommended to support this effect.
