How Widely Are Near-Death Experiences Recognized in Indian Society and Health Care? A Preliminary Survey
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies 2025 DOI: 10.24972/ijts.2025.44.1.1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 200 |
| Population | Patient attendants and physicians at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, India |
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Key findings | Awareness of near-death experiences was low among both patient attendants and physicians, lower than in Western societies. Almost half of physicians who claimed adequate knowledge did not think these experiences were medically important. |
Abstract
Patients who have had near-death experiences are often profoundly changed by the event, and they and their families can find these phenomena bewildering or even distubing. Despite this, awareness of near-death experiences appears to be minimal among health care providers in India. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 individuals who attend patients at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kochi, Kerala, India, and on one hundred physicians at the same institution. Acquaintance with the phenomenon of near-death experiences was found to be quite low among both samples—lower than rates seen in Western societies. Almost half of the physicians who claimed adequate knowledge about these experiences did not think that they were medically important. These findings point to a need for education about neardeath experiences for health care providers in India, and possibly in other developing societies as well.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on near-death experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fantasy Proneness Correlates With the Intensity of Near-Death Experience Individuals who have experienced a near-death experience (classical or NDE-like) and... | 2018 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 228 |
| A systematic analysis of distressing near-death experience accounts Individuals who had a near-death experience and wrote down their account | 2019 | Cross-sectional study | n = 123 |
| Reduced death threat in near-death experiencers Adults who had near-death experiences, came close to death without NDE, or never came... | 1992 | Cross-sectional study | n = 290 |
| Near-Death Experiences in a Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic Population Psychiatric outpatients | 2003 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 832 |
| Near-Death States Reported in a Sample of 50 Misusers Previous ketamine misusers who reported a ketamine-related near-death experience | 2010 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 50 |