title: Physicians' religiosity and attitudes towards patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many religions underline the value of merciful acts, especially the care of the sick. The aim of the survey was to verify the hypothesis that a higher religiosity correlates with a more desirable ethical attitude towards patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  An anonymous questionnaire consisting of standardized tools: Scale of Attitudes towards the Patient (SAtP) (four dimensions: respect for autonomy, altruism, empathy and holistic approach to a patient), the Scale of Religious Attitudes (SReAt) evaluating the religiosity, and some questions related to the role of religious beliefs in respondents' professional lives. The research was carried out on a group of 528 Polish physicians, 324 of whom returned the questionnaire (return = 61%); 51% women, 49% men; average work experience: 17.03 years; 93% Catholics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Religiosity correlates positively with altruism (r=0.12; p<0.05), holistic approach (r=0.18; p<0.01) and empathy (r=0.20; p<0.01), but not with respect for autonomy. For the majority of physicians, religious faith is an important supportive factor, especially in making difficult decisions. Surgeons are less religious (M=5.32; SD=1.06) than non-surgeons (M=5.61; SD=0.93); (t= -2.59, p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Physicians' religiosity is an essential factor shaping their attitude towards patients. The majority of physicians declared that their religious faith influences their professional decisions, especially in difficult situations. The religiosity variable explains physicians' moral attitude better than the denomination (religious affiliation) variable. Physician-patient relation frameworks should take into account not only patients' but also physicians' cultural and religious beliefs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ethics and Human Philosophy, Medical University of Lublin, Poland. jpawlikowski@wp.pl
authors.forename: Jakub
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pawlikowski
authors.forename: Jarosław Jerzy
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Sak
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Marczewski
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010820:Physicians; D011044:Poland; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires