Meta-analysisprimarycontextVerified
Intercessory prayer for the alleviation of ill health
Leanne Roberts, Irshad Ahmed, Andrew Davison · 2009 · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Spiritual Evidence Map/Last updated May 10, 2026/Claims v1.0.0-provisional/Sources v1.0.0/Scores provisional
Summary
Cochrane systematic review of 10 randomized trials (>7,600 patients) of intercessory prayer. The pooled evidence does not support a clinically meaningful effect; the reviewers concluded that further large trials are not justified.
Why it matters here
The reference systematic review on the question; conclusion is null overall.