Prevalence of near-death experiences in people with and without REM sleep intrusion.
Daniel Kondziella, Jens P Dreier, Markus Harboe Olsen
PeerJ January 1, 2019 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.7585 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractNear-death experiences are reported by 10% of a large, diverse sample of 1,034 lay people from 35 countries. People who have such experiences are more likely to also show signs of REM sleep intrusion: 47% of those with near-death experiences had REM intrusion, compared with 26% of those who had unusual experiences that did not meet the threshold for a near-death experience and 14% of those with no such experiences. This link remained strong after adjusting for age, gender, location, employment, and perceived danger; people with REM intrusion were nearly three times as likely to report a near-death experience.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1,034 |
| Population | Lay people from 35 countries recruited via a crowd-sourcing platform |
| Keywords | Brain injury Cardiac arrest Coma Disorders of consciousness Drowning |
| Citations | 34 |
| Key finding | Self-reported REM sleep intrusion is significantly associated with near-death experiences, with an odds ratio of 2.85 after adjusting for demographic and situational factors. |
Abstract
The origin and prevalence of near-death experiences are unknown. A recent study suggested a link with REM sleep intrusion but was criticized for its selection of control participants. We therefore assessed the association of REM intrusion and near-death experiences with different methods. Using a crowd-sourcing platform, we recruited 1,034 lay people from 35 countries to investigate the prevalence of near-death experiences and self-reported REM sleep intrusion. Reports were validated using the Greyson Near-Death Experiences Scale (GNDES) with ≥7 points as cut-off for near-death experiences. Near-death experiences were reported by 106 of 1,034 participants (10%; 95% CI [8.5-12%]). Evidence of REM intrusion was more common in people with near-death experiences (n = 50∕106; 47%) than in people with experiences with 6 points or less on the GNDES (n = 47∕183; 26%) or in those without such experiences (n = 107∕744; 14%; p = < 0.0001). Following multivariate regression analysis to adjust for age, gender, place of residence, employment and perceived danger, this association remained highly significant; people with REM intrusion were more likely to exhibit near-death experiences than those without (OR 2.85; 95% CI [1.68-4.88]; p = 0.0001). Using a crowd-sourcing approach, we found a prevalence of near-death experiences of 10%. While age, gender, place of residence, employment status and perceived threat do not seem to influence the prevalence of near-death experiences, we confirmed a possible association with REM sleep intrusion.