Analgesic plus prayer versus analgesic alone. Effect of prayer on intensity of postoperative pain, anxiety and physiological indices in surgical patients. A randomized clinical trial

Introduction: Most surgical patients have a personal level of pain. Certain procedures are available for reducing postoperative pain (PoP). Prayer is one of the valuable methods that favour patient relaxation and reduce PoP; it is especially valuable because it neither causes additional tasks for hospitals, nor raises financial issues for patients. Purpose of this study was evaluation of the effect of prayer on PoP reduction in gastrointestinal surgical patients. Methods: In this clinical trial we selected 108 patients who were candidates for gastrointestinal elective surgery. Patients were randomly divided into two groups: the case group (n=54), who relied on analgesic plus prayer, and the control group (n=54), who relied on analgesic alone. Case group patients performed a specific prayer, starting 6hrs before surgery began and continuing until 24hrs after the operation. Vital signs, anxiety and PoP intensity were evaluated at 3, 12 and 24hrs after surgery. Applying SPSS, data were analysed utilizing the T-test, Fisher's exact test, and the Chi-square test. Results: There were no differences between the two groups in terms of type of operation, gender, marital status, age, educational level, job, or income of the patients. A statistically significant difference was seen between the anxiety, physiological indices, and PoP intensity recorded for the two groups after 3, 12, and 24hrs (p<0.003). Furthermore, the quantity and type of the analgesic (morphine) drugs showed significant differences between the two groups (p<0.05). Amount of the analgesic for the control group patients was 1.2 times that of the case group. Conclusion: Prayer may increase pain threshold tolerance and the adaptation level of surgical patients. Hospitals could provide conditions in which elective surgical patients can perform their own prayer.