Many doctors comfortable talking religion with patients

Protestant physicians were more likely to talk about religious issues and pray with patients than were doctors of other faiths, a study shows.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. June 5, 2006.

Most physicians say it is OK to talk about religious issues if a patient brings up them up. But doctors are nearly split about when it is appropriate to ask a patient about such beliefs.

A national survey of 1,144 physicians found that 91% of doctors believe it is appropriate to discuss religion/spirituality issues when a patient brings them up. The survey, which appears in the May issue of the journal Medical Care, found that 55% of doctors said it is usually or always appropriate to ask about a patient's religion. The remaining 45% considered it inappropriate to be the one to broach the topic.

Few physicians said they often or always share their own religious ideas and experiences. Some doctors reported praying with patients on occasion.

"The more religious doctors were much more likely to say this is an appropriate part of medicine and they engage in it," said lead study author Farr Curlin, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago. "Doctors who are more secular or less religious are less likely to say it's important."

Protestant physicians were most likely to discuss religious issues and pray with patients. Jewish and Catholic doctors were less likely than Protestants to talk about religious issues and pray, according to the study.