The Effect of Prayer on Blood Pressure of Women in Isfahan in 2005

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is one of the most important, non-contagious diseases. Every year many people either die or suffer from it. Therefore, the first step is to screen prehypertensive people and change the manner of their life style. Nowadays, prayer in complementary alternative medicine (CAM) is known as an important factor in changing people's lives. This study is done with the goal of defining the effects of prayer on blood pressure of women in Isfahan. METHODS: This study is a random controlled clinical trial. There were 60 pre hypertensive women aged 25-45 years randomly selected. They were divided into 2 groups of intervention and non- intervention based on their criteria to be included in the study. In intervention group, they were given tapes of selected prayers but in non intervention group they were not. The data were collected by questionnaires, checklist and interviews. RESULTS: Both groups were not identical regarding age, occupation, marital status, and educational level. The findings showed that in intervention group, systolic blood pressure before intervention was 132.93 mm/Hg and after that 128.70mm Hg (with a decrease of 4.23 mm/Hg). Diastolic mean blood pressure before intervention in intervention group was 84/42 mm/Hg and after 83.48mm/Hg with a nearly 1 m/Hg decrease. The difference between the mean of systolic and diastolic blood pressures before and after intervention was significant (P<%5). CONCLUSIONS: This research suggests that saying prayers as a part of complementary medicine is a non-Medicational way with no side effects in prehypertensive people.