Observations of Muslim Physicians Regarding the Influence of Religion on Health and Their Clinical Approach

Abstract

Although most patients report wanting their physicians to address the religious aspects of their lives, most physicians do not initiate questions concerning religion with their patients. Although religion plays a major role in every aspect of the life of a Muslim, most of the data on the role of religion in health have been conducted in populations that are predominantly non-Muslim. The objectives of this study were to assess Muslim physicians' beliefs and behaviours regarding religious discussions in clinical practice and to understand the factors that facilitate or impede discussion of religion in clinical settings. The study is based on a cross-sectional survey. Muslim physicians working in a tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia were invited to complete a questionnaire that included demographic data; intrinsic level of religiosity; beliefs about the impact of religion on health; and observations, attitudes, behaviours, and barriers to attending to patients' religious needs. Out of 225 physicians, 91% agreed that religion had a positive influence on health, but 62.2% thought that religion could lead to the refusal of medically indicated therapy. Over half of the physicians queried never asked about religious issues. Family physicians were more likely to initiate religious discussions, and physicians with high intrinsic religiosity were more likely to share their own religious views. Residents and staff physicians tended to avoid such discussions. The study results highlight the fact that many physicians do not address patients' religious issues and that there is a need to clarify ethically sound means by which to address such needs in Islamic countries. Medical institutions should work to improve the capacity of medical personnel to appropriately address religious issues. The training of clinical religious advisors is a promising solution to this dilemma.

The NERSH International Collaboration on Values, Spirituality and Religion in Medicine: Development of Questionnaire, Description of Data Pool, and Overview of Pool Publications

“…International research teams translated the RSMPP using mainly forward-backward translations with Face Validations in the following years [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28].…”

“…A total of 292 were identified as irrelevant, 24 scanned for possible relevance, and two studies emerged of which Curlin had no knowledge, one from Brazil, the other from Saudi Arabia. They had both used parts of Curlin's questionnaire, mainly the sections on physician evaluation of spirituality among patients [12,13]. Hvidt contacted the authors who agreed to participate.…”

“…The third article was published in 2012 by Al-Yousefi and reported "Observations of Muslim physicians regarding the influence of religion on health and their clinical approach" [13]. It was written based on data from 225 Muslim physicians working in a tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia.…”

“…This article describes the development, contents, and first cross national comparisons based on an international research tool, first developed in 2002 and executed in 2003 with subsequent publications [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10], translated into seven languages [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] and optimized in 2013. The data document the impact of Health Professionals' (HPs') religious and secular beliefs and values on the clinical encounter.…”

The International NERSH Data Pool—A Methodological Description of a Data Pool of Religious and Spiritual Values of Health Professionals from Six Continents

“…Since its development, the RSMPP was translated into seven languages and research teams from around the world published their national findings in the following decade [6,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. Most research teams added and subtracted items to study needs.…”