Hospitalism
Conditions
Keywords
faith, religion, hospitalization, immunology, psychoneuroimmunology, theology, fMRI
Brief summary
The aim of the HEALING (Hospital-based Ecumenical And Linguistic Immuno-NeuroloGic) Study was to examine immunological and neurological changes in hospitalized participants after meeting a chaplain and Biblical listenings, in order to evaluate whether these meetings affect the course of the disease.
Detailed description
The authors pre-screened hospitalized participants to find those who were the most in need of an intervention by a chaplain. A passage from the Bible was read to the participants during a meeting with the chaplain at the bedside, or in the chapel of the hospital. No meeting occurred in the randomized control group, which was compiled in a way to get a group of participants with an approximatively similar pattern of diagnoses and treatment days than the intervention groups. The pace of enrollment was deliberately slow in order to assure the authenticity of the visits (slow science). Blood samples were taken 30 minutes prior, and 60 minutes after the meeting to measure White Blood Cell (WBC)-, lymphocyte counts, interferon gamma (IFN-γ)-, immunoglobulin M (IgM)-, immunoglobulin A (IgA)-, immunoglobulin G (IgG)-, and complement C3 levels. A subgroup of the visited participants was subjected to functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), where they were played an audiotape of readings of the same passage from the Bible. Associative tests, paired-samples t-test, network analysis was performed to search for any correlation between psychological and immunological parameters, completed with Statistical Parametric Mapping to search for correlations of the above with neurological parameters.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALMeeting with a Chaplain coupled with Biblical Readings
Sponsors
Somogy Megyei Kaposi Mór Teaching Hospital
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
parallel, randomized, open-labeled, controlled clinical trial
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* adult age (\>18 years) * the condition of being hospitalized * the ability for verbal communication * alertness, orientation * no sign of psychosis in their medical history * willingness to participate in the study after written, informed consent
Exclusion criteria
* the inability to communicate verbally * psychotic state, altered mental state * unwillingness to participate * active and treated malignant disease * steroid, NSAID or metamizole- sodium use
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in lymphocyte count | Change from baseline at 120 minutes | lymphocyte count measured with automatised laboratory measurement and microscopic blood smear examination |
| Change in total white blood cell (WBC) count | Change from baseline at 120 minutes | WBC count measured with automatised laboratory measurement and microscopic blood smear examination |
| Change in interferon-gamma level | Change from baseline at 120 minutes | enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay |
| Change in immunoglobulin M level | Change from baseline at 120 minutes | enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay |
| Change in immunoglobulin A level | Change from baseline at 120 minutes | enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay |
| Change in immunoglobulin G level | Change from baseline at 120 minutes | enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay |
| Change in complement C3 level | Change from baseline at 120 minutes | enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay |
| Change in functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging activity | Change from baseline during the 60 second long activation block | Statistical Parametric Mapping analysis of Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) answers |
| Participants' satisfaction with the visit as assessed by Scores given on the Healing - after Questionnaire | within 1 hour after intervention | Participants' assessement of their satisfaction on single-item rating scales in a Questionnaire designed for the Study. Answers range from 1 to 5, with higher values representing better outcomes. |
| Chaplain's satisfaction with the visit as assessed by Scores given on the Healing - after Questionnaire | within 1 hour after intervention | Chaplain's assessement of her satisfaction on single-item rating scales in a Questionnaire designed for the Study. Answers range from 1 to 5, with higher values representing better outcomes. |
| Participants' level of distress in the month preceding the measurement as assessed with the total Score of the Perceived Stress Scale 14 (PSS-14) | within 30 minutes before intervention | PSS-14 Scale uses 14 questions with answers ranging from 0 to 4, with higher values indicating higher levels of distress on the seven negative-, and lower levels of distress on the seven positive items. Scores are obtained by reversing the scores on the seven positive items, then summing across all to give the total PSS-14 Score. |
| Participants' spiritual and psychological needs, religious practice, thoughts about how they became sick, and how they could heal, as assessed by Scores given on the Healing - before Questionnaire | within 30 minutes before intervention | Participants' assessement on single-item rating scales in a Questionnaire designed for the Study (Healing - before Questionnaire). Answers range from 1 to 5, with higher values representing better outcomes. |
Countries
Hungary
Outcome results
None listed