Medical Effects of Proximal (In-person) Intercessory (PIP) and Virtual Intercessory Prayer (VIP) on Pain and Anxiety

April 27, 2026 updated by: University of Maryland, Baltimore
This study examines whether proximal (in-person) intercessory prayer (PIP) and virtual intercessory prayer (VIP) can reduce pain and anxiety in adults seeking care at a family medicine clinic. Participants who report moderate or higher levels of pain or anxiety will be randomly assigned to receive either brief Christian prayer (in person or virtually) or a control condition of 5 minutes of relaxing music. Prayer sessions last approximately 5 to 15 minutes and are led by trained prayer practitioners. All participants complete surveys about their pain and anxiety levels before and after the session, and again at 2 to 4 weeks and 6 to 8 weeks. The goal is to determine whether prayer leads to greater improvement in pain and anxiety symptoms compared to the control condition, whether effects differ between in-person and virtual prayer, and how participants perceive the experience.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This is a prospective, randomized, controlled study with four groups: Immediate In-Person Prayer (Group 1), In-Person Music Control (Group 2), Immediate Virtual Prayer (Group 3), and Virtual Music Control (Group 4). Randomization uses an alternating list with equal probability of assignment to intervention or control within each arm. The PIP arm recruits patients presenting in person at University of Maryland Department of Family and Community Medicine clinics. The VIP arm recruits patients of the same clinics via email outreach, with sessions conducted over Zoom Healthcare. The prayer intervention follows a standardized Christian 5-step prayer model. The control condition consists of a 5 minutes of soothing instrumental music. Outcome assessments use the GAD-7 and likert scare for anxiety and the Numeric Pain Rating Scale for pain, collected at baseline, immediately post-intervention (except GAD-7), 2 to 4 weeks, and 6 to 8 weeks. Secondary analyses examine whether effects vary by age, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and religious beliefs. Participant perceptions of the prayer experience are also assessed. This is a feasibility and pilot study.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

180

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Maryland
      • Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21201
        • University of Maryland Department of Family and Community Medicine

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patient at a University of Maryland Department of Family and Community Medicine clinic
  • Score of 4 or more on the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (0-10) and/or score of 10 or more on the GAD-7

Exclusion Criteria:

  • currently pregnant
  • Change in pain or anxiety medication within 24 hours of potential enrollment

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Proximal (In-Person) Intercessory Prayer (PIP)
5-15 minutes of in person PIP from a volunteer prayer practitioner following the 5-step prayer model
Behavioral: Intercessory Prayer
Brief Christian prayer (5-15 minutes) led by trained volunteer prayer practitioners following a standardized 5-step prayer model. Delivered in person (Arm 1) or via Zoom Healthcare (Arm 3).
Active Comparator: In-Person Music Control
5 minutes of soothing instrumental music in a private room
Behavioral: Music Listening
5 minutes of soothing instrumental music.
Experimental: Virtual Intercessory Prayer (VIP)
5-15 minutes of VIP over zoom from a volunteer prayer practitioner following the 5-step prayer model
Behavioral: Intercessory Prayer
Brief Christian prayer (5-15 minutes) led by trained volunteer prayer practitioners following a standardized 5-step prayer model. Delivered in person (Arm 1) or via Zoom Healthcare (Arm 3).
Active Comparator: Virtual Music Control
5 minutes of soothing instrumental music in a private zoom room
Behavioral: Music Listening
5 minutes of soothing instrumental music.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Pain Intensity
Time Frame: Baseline and immediately post-intervention, 2-4 weeks, and 6-8 weeks
Change in score on the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (0-10, with 10 being worst possible pain)
Baseline and immediately post-intervention, 2-4 weeks, and 6-8 weeks
Change in Anxiety (Likert Scale)
Time Frame: Baseline and immediately post-intervention
Change in self-reported anxiety on a Likert scale
Baseline and immediately post-intervention
Change in Anxiety (GAD-7)
Time Frame: Baseline, 2-4 weeks, and 6-8 weeks
Change in score on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7)
Baseline, 2-4 weeks, and 6-8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Participant Perception of Prayer Experience
Time Frame: Immediately post-intervention
Self-reported participant experience and opinion regarding the prayer intervention, including desire to receive prayer again and opinion on whether prayer should be offered at other medical clinics. Assessed in intervention groups only.
Immediately post-intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Maryland, Baltimore

Collaborators

Global Medical Research Institute

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

May 20, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 19, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

May 19, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 27, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 27, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 4, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 27, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HP-00088654

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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