 | | | | Related Healthscout Videos | |
|
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Its not something you typically discuss with your doctor, but a new study says you might want to bring up spirituality during an office visit. The research finds spirituality, including prayer, is important for well-being. Study authors feel religion and spirituality should be something assessed by physicians in order to develop a better patient-doctor relationship.
Investigators from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine led the research. For the study, 124 patients visiting the office of an ophthalmologist answered a 14-question survey about their spiritual beliefs.
Text Continues Below
Researchers say they found 83 percent of the participants say prayer is very important or moderately important for their sense of well-being. Forty-one percent believe God permits illness but does not cause it and 55 percent believe God can influence a cure. Study authors say 68 percent believe God helps them be at peace with their illness and 60 percent believe God can directly help physicians treat illness.
Obtaining a brief religious and spiritual history, when it becomes a routine part of developing a relationship between the patients and the physician, may become more comfortable for the physician with time, add to an understanding of the patients value system, provide the patient with a greater sense of trust in the physician and assist in the healing process, especially when a cure is not possible, study authors were quoted as saying.
SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association; 2008;126:1262-1265
Sign up for a free weekly e-mail on Medical Breakthroughs called First to Know by clicking here.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
|
.gif)
