Faculty and resident attitudes about spirituality and religion in the provision of pediatric health care.
OBJECTIVE
To characterize pediatricians' attitudes toward spirituality/religion (S/R) in relationship to the practice of pediatrics.


METHODS
Pediatric faculty (n = 100) and residents (n = 65) in an urban academic medical center completed a questionnaire about their attitudes toward and clinical practices related to S/R. Study variables included the strength of personal S/R orientation, attitudes toward S/R, clinicians' discussion of S/R with patients and families, self-reported S/R behaviors, the medical conditions that warrant discussion of S/R, and attitudes toward praying with patients if asked to do so.


RESULTS
Sixty-five percent of pediatricians felt that faith plays a role in healing, and 76% reported feeling comfortable praying with a patient if asked to do so. Ninety-three percent would ask about S/R when discussing a life-threatening illness, and 96% when discussing death and dying. A strong personal S/R orientation was associated with beliefs that the pediatrician should discuss S/R with the patient (P <.01); beliefs that faith plays a role in healing (P <.01); and feelings that patients would like to discuss S/R with their pediatrician (P <.01), that the doctor-patient relationship would be strengthened by discussion of S/R (P <.01), and that physicians should call on an S/R leader for an illness or death (P <.01). Personal S/R orientation was not related to whether physicians reported that they discuss S/R issues with their patients (P =.08). Residents were more likely than faculty to state that it is appropriate to pray with patients if asked to do so (P <.05), and compared with pediatricians who were science majors in college, pediatricians who were nonscience majors in college felt more comfortable praying with patients if asked to do so (P <.01).


CONCLUSIONS
In an urban, inner-city, academic medical center, pediatric residents and faculty have an overall positive attitude toward the integration of S/R into the practice of pediatrics.
Siegel
Benjamin
B
Department of Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA. bsiegel@bu.edu
Tenenbaum
Andrew J
AJ
Jamanka
Amber
A
Barnes
Linda
L
Hubbard
Carol
C
Zuckerman
Barry
B
D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001900:Boston; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D029221:Faith Healing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006694:Holistic Health; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education / Q000379:methods*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires