Study: Doctors say faith has role in healing

Most physicians say religion and spirituality have a significant impact on health, according to a new study, while just 6 percent of doctors believe religion or spirituality changed "hard" medical outcomes.

The survey, part of a University of Chicago study published by the Archives of Internal Medicine, shows that more than half (54 percent) of doctors said "God or another supernatural being" can intervene in a patient’s health.

The questionnaire asked medical professionals to estimate how often their patients mention religion and spirituality issues, how much those factors influence health and how that influence is manifested.

"Consensus seems to begin and end with the idea that many, if not most, patients draw on prayer and other religious resources to navigate and overcome the spiritual challenges that arise in their experiences with illness," Dr. Farr A. Curlin, Dr. John D. Lantos, Dr. Marshall H. Chin and Sarah Sellergren wrote in the Archives publication.

Compared to those with low religiosity, physicians with high religiosity are substantially more likely to report that patients often mention religion and spirituality issues, 36 percent to 11 percent, the study showed.

According to Curlin, that response shows that "with respect to what physicians bring to the data, that has as much influence on their interpretation as the data itself."

Most respondents, however, interpreted those factors positively rather than negatively.

"Although the great majority, 85 percent, believe that the influence of religion and spirituality is generally positive, few, 6 percent, believe that religion and spirituality often changes hard medical outcomes," Curlin and colleagues wrote in the Archives.

The results show that three out of four physicians believe religion and spirituality help patients cope, and the same number credits those factors for giving patients a positive state of mind.

Of the 2,000 physicians who received the survey, 1,144 responded. The overall study has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. (RNS)