A randomized trial of distant healing for skin warts

PURPOSE: Distant healing, a treatment that is transmitted by a healer to a patient at another location, is widely used, although good scientific evide nce of its efficacy is sparse. This trial was aimed at assessing the effica cy of one form of distant healing on common skin warts. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 84 patients with warts were randomly assig ned either to a group that received 6 weeks of distant healing by one of 10 experienced healers or to a control group that received a similar prelimin ary assessment but no distant healing. The primary outcomes were the number of warts and their mean size at the end of the treatment period. Secondary outcomes were the change in Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and pati ents' subjective experiences. Both the patients and the evaluator were blin ded to group assignment. RESULTS: The baseline characteristics of the patients were similar in the d istant healing (n = 41) and control groups (n = 43). The mean number and si ze of warts per person did not change significantly during the study. The n umber of warts increased by 0.2 in the healing group and decreased by 1.1 i n the control group (difference [healing to control] = -1.3; 95% confidence interval = -1.0 to 3.6, P = 0.25). Six patients in the distant healing gro up and 8 in the control group reported a subjective improvement (P = 0.63). There were no significant between-group differences in the depression and anxiety scores. CONCLUSION: Distant healing from experienced healers had no effect on the n umber or size of patients' warts. (C) 2000 by Excerpta Medica, Inc.