Evidence mapPaperPMID 38777939Full record

Trial reportInternational journal of behavioral medicine2025

Effects of Modified Ramadan Fasting on Mental Well-Being and Biomarkers in Healthy Adult Muslims - A Randomised Controlled Trial.

Romy Lauche, Iman Fathi, Chalil Saddat, Petra Klose, Jallal Al-Abtah, Arndt Büssing, Thomas Rampp, Gustav Dobos, Holger Cramer

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in International journal of behavioral medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02775175 (The Influence of a Modified Ramadan Fasting Regimen on Health and Well-being in Healthy Muslims - a Randomised Controlled Trial), which is not on this map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT02775175 nacompletednot on this map

The Influence of a Modified Ramadan Fasting Regimen on Health and Well-being in Healthy Muslims - a Randomised Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversität Duisburg-EssenRan2016 to 2016Enrolled114ConditionsHealthy VolunteersArmsModified Ramadan Fasting
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Romy LaucheNational Centre for Naturopathic Medicine, Southern Cross University, Military Rd, Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia. romy.lauche@scu.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4171-7935
Iman FathiDepartment of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Evang. Kliniken Essen-Mitte, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Chalil SaddatDepartment of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Evang. Kliniken Essen-Mitte, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Petra KloseDepartment of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Evang. Kliniken Essen-Mitte, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Jallal Al-AbtahDepartment of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Evang. Kliniken Essen-Mitte, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Arndt BüssingInstitute of Integrative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Witten/Herdecke, Herdecke, Germany.
Thomas RamppDepartment of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Evang. Kliniken Essen-Mitte, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Gustav DobosDepartment of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Evang. Kliniken Essen-Mitte, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
Holger CramerNational Centre for Naturopathic Medicine, Southern Cross University, Military Rd, Lismore, NSW, 2480, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundRamadan fasting has seen increased attention in research, often with inconsistent findings. This study aims to investigate whether dietary and lifestyle modifications during Ramadan can improve well-being and health in healthy adult Muslims.

methodA randomised controlled trial with two parallel groups was conducted in an outpatient clinic of a university hospital in Essen, Germany, in 2016. Healthy adult Muslims (n = 114) aged 18-60 years were randomised to a modified fasting group; i.e., they received educational material prompting dietary and lifestyle modifications pre-Ramadan, and a control group who undertook Ramadan fasting as usual. Primary outcome was quality of life (WHO-5 Well-Being Index). Secondary outcomes included sleep quality, spirituality, and mindfulness (all self-report), body weight, body mass index, body fat, waist circumference, hip circumference, blood pressure, and heart rate, as well as blood serum biomarkers. Safety was examined via adverse events.

resultsThe modified fasting group reported significantly higher quality of life (WHO-5) compared to the control after Ramadan (MD 5.9; 95% CI, 0.02-11.8; p < 0.05). Group differences in favour of the modified fasting were also found for satisfaction with health (MD 5.9, 95% CI 0.19-11.67), ease of life (MD 4.1, 95% CI 0.38-7.80) and mindfulness (MD 7.6, 95% CI 2.68-12.52), reductions in weight (MD, - 0.9 kg; 95% CI - 1.39 to - 0.42), BMI (MD - 0.3 kg/m

conclusionPre-Ramadan dietary and lifestyle advice can lead to short-term improvements in mental and physical well-being of adult Muslims observing Ramadan. As such, this study demonstrates the potential benefits of culturally appropriate health interventions in a religious context.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier NCT02775175).

Indexed as

FastingIslamMental HealthQuality of LifeAdolescentAdultBiomarkersFemaleHumansLife StyleMaleMiddle AgedMindfulnessSleep QualitySpiritualityYoung AdultBiomarkersFastingNutritionRamadanReligion

Identifiers

PMID38777939
PMCPMC12847207

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.