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Prevalence of near-death experiences in Australia.

Mahendra Perera, Gayan Padmasekara, John Belanti

The Journal of near-death studies 2005 DOI: 10.17514/jnds-2005-24-2-p109-116. (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed
Population General population of Australia
Topics Near-death experience
Keywords Jungian analytical psychology
Citations 41
Key findings 8 percent of the Australian population reported a near death experience.

Abstract

In the literature surveyed we found only two articles that dealt with the prevalence of near death experiences (NDEs) in a general population. The first study, from the United States, reported NDEs in 15 percent of the population. In a more strictly controlled study from Germany, the rate was 4 percent. The present study was performed to ascertain the prevalence of NDEs in Australia. We developed a questionnaire and administered it by telephone interview. We present that questionnaire here for further studies. We determined that 8 percent of the population reported an NDE. There was a 36 percent prevalence of people who had faced a situation of imminent death, almost one-fourth of whom reported an NDE.