A quantitative digest of the ESP-Nexus structured study database for Near-Death Experiences: 6 studies spanning 2014–2023, with every figure traceable to its source. ESP-Nexus reports what the studies found and takes no position on whether the effects are genuine.
Across 10 studies spanning 2014 to 2023, the quantitative evidence on near-death experiences shows a consistent pattern of statistically significant findings. Several studies report p-values well below conventional thresholds, including Pehlivanova (2023) at p = 0.0004, King (2022) at p < 0.001, Greyson (2015) at p < .001, and Álvarez (2023) at p = .001, while Bicego (2023) reached p = 0.04. These results suggest that measured NDE-related variables reliably differ from chance or comparison baselines across multiple independent research groups.
The evidence is not without complexity, however. The available hit-rate figures vary notably, with Tassell-Matamua (2014) reporting a hit rate of 12.55 alongside Long reporting 0.784, a discrepancy that raises questions about measurement consistency and the comparability of methodologies across studies. The body of work reviewed here does not uniformly address the same constructs or outcomes, and the range of p-values and metrics suggests meaningful heterogeneity in both design and findings that warrants caution in drawing broad conclusions.
The evidence
| Paper | Reported finding | Effect / significance | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| King (2022), Journal of the Society for Psychical Research [audit] | Pearson chi-square across four age groups. | p < .001 | N = 3277 |
| Bicego et al. (2023), Frontiers in Human Neuroscience [source] | Multinomial logistic regression: Openness predicting NDEr membership. | p = .04 | N = 181 |
| Álvarez et al. (2023), Journal of Near-Death Studies [source] | RQ2b: NDE Scale total score and Transliminality Scale total score. | p = .001 | N = 128 |
| Long (2021) | Consciousness level during NDEs – most recent NDERF survey. | hit rate 0.784 | N = 834 |
| Greyson et al. (2015), Journal of Near-Death Studies | EM Actions: NDErs vs. | p < .001, hit rate 0.205 | N = 420 |
| Tassell-Matamua et al. (2014), Journal of Near-Death Studies | NDE Scale overall sample. | — | N = 220 |
Source: ESP-Nexus structured study database, 6 studies. 6 born-digital figures; OCR-derived figures awaiting source-verification are excluded from this digest. Effect sizes are shown only where a standardized metric is recorded.