Most doctors believe that faith helps patients cope

A doctor's faith influences patient interactions when it comes to the relationship between religion and health, a new study said.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. May 14, 2007.

More than half of physicians say religion and spirituality influence patients' health, and three in four doctors believe that religious beliefs help patients cope and provide a positive outlook, according to a new study.

"The influence is substantial, and the large majority generally believe it's positive," said Farr A. Curlin, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago and lead author of the study in the April 9 Archives of Internal Medicine.

Researchers received survey responses from 1,144 U.S. physicians age 65 and younger from all specialties. They found that 56% of physicians believe religion and spirituality have a significant influence on health and 54% said a supernatural being intervenes at times.

But just 6% said spirituality helps to prevent "hard" medical outcomes such as heart attacks, infections or death. Rather, 76% of doctors believe that faith helps patients to cope, 74% said it gives patients a positive state of mind and 55% said it provides emotional and practical support.

"Faced with suffering and faced with the threat of impending death, [spiritual beliefs] come out, and people try to make sense of their [medical] experience," Dr. Curlin said.

A doctor's notions about faith and health are strongly associated with the doctor's own religious characteristics, the study said. Protestants are more likely than other religious groups to report that patients bring up religious issues and to say that spirituality prevents "hard" medical outcomes. Doctors who practice in the South are more likely than physicians in other regions to say patients often mention faith issues.