Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Religious characteristics of U.S. physicians

A national survey

Journal of General Internal Medicine volume 20, pages 629–634 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Patients’ religious commitments and religious communities are known to influence their experiences of illness and their medical decisions. Physicians are also dynamic partners in the doctorpatient relationship, yet little is known about the religious characteristics of physicians or how physicians’ religious commitments shape the clinical encounter.

OBJECTIVE: To provide a baseline description of physicians’ religious characteristics, and to compare physicians’ characteristics with those of the general U.S. population.

DESIGN/PARTICIPANTS: Mailed survey of a stratified random sample of 2,000 practicing U.S. physicians. Comparable U.S. population data are derived from the 1998 General Social Survey.

MEASUREMENTS/RESULTS: The response rate was 63%. Fifty-five percent of physicians say their religious beliefs influence their practice of medicine. Compared with the general population, physicians are more likely to be affiliated with religions that are underrepresented in the United States, less likely to say they try to carry their religious beliefs over into all other dealings in life (58% vs 73%), twice as likely to consider themselves spiritual but not religious (20% vs 9%), and twice as likely to cope with major problems in life without relying on God (61% vs 29%).

CONCLUSIONS: Physicians’ religious characteristics are diverse and they differ in many ways from those of the general population. Researchers, medical educators, and policy makers should further examine the ways in which physicians’ religious commitments shape their clinical engagements.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  1. Koenig HG, McCullogh ME, Larson DB. Handbook of Religion and Health. New York: Oxford University Press; 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Ellison CG, Levin JS. The religion-health connection: evidence, theory, and future directions. Health Educ Behav. 1998;25:700–20.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Levin JS. Religion and health: is there an association, is it valid, and is it causal? Soc Sci Med. 1994;38:1475–82.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Sloan RP, Bagiella E. Claims about religious involvement and health outcomes. Ann Behav Med. 2002;24:14–21.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Mueller PS, Plevak DJ, Rummans TA. Religious involvement, spirituality, and medicine: implications for clinical practice. Mayo Clin Proc. 2001;76:1225–35.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Thoresen CE, Harris AH. Spirituality and health: what’s the evidence and what’s needed? Ann Behav Med. 2002;24:3–13.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Astrow AB, Puchalski CM, Sulmasy DP. Religion, spirituality, and health care: social, ethical, and practical considerations. Am J Med. 2001;110:283–7.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Kagawa-Singer M, Blackhall LJ. Negotiating cross-cultural issues at the end of life: “You got to go where he lives”. JAMA. 2001;286:2993–3001.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Laine C, Davidoff F. Patient-centered medicine: a professional evolution. JAMA. 1996;275:152–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Carrillo JE, Green AR, Betancourt JR. Cross-cultural primary care: a patient-based approach. Ann Intern Med. 1999;130:829–34.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Crawley LM, Marshall PA, Lo B, Koenig BA. Strategies for culturally effective end-of-life care. Ann Intern Med. 2002;136:673–9.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Charon R. The patient-physician relationship. Narrative medicine: a model for empathy, reflection, profession, and trust. JAMA. 2001;286:1897–902.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Gordon JS. Holistic medicine: advances and shortcomings. West J Med. 1982;136:546–51.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Emanuel EJ, Emanuel LL. Four models of the physician-patient relationship. JAMA. 1992;267:2221–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Lawrence RJ. The witches’ brew of spirituality and medicine. Ann Behav Med. 2002;24:74–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Hall DE, Curlin F. Can physicians’ care be neutral regarding religion? Acad Med. 2004;79:677–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Association of American Medical Colleges. Contemporary issues in medicine: communication in medicine. Medical School Objectives Project, Report III. 1999. Available at www.aamc.org.

  18. Oyama O, Koenig HG. Religious beliefs and practices in family medicine. Arch Fam Med. 1998;7:431–5.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Maugans TA, Wadland WC. Religion and family medicine: a survey of physicians and patients. J Fam Practice. 1991;32:210–3.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Daaleman TP, Frey B. Spiritual and religious beliefs and practices of family physicians. J Fam Practice. 1999;48:98–104.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Frank E, Dell ML, Chopp R. Religious characteristics of US women physicians. Soc Sci Med. 1999;49:1717–22.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Monroe MH, Bynum D, Susi B, et al. Primary care physician preferences regarding spiritual behavior in medical practice. Arch Intern Med. 2003;163:2751–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Multidimensional measurement of religiousness/spirituality for use in health research: a report of the Fetzer Institute/National Institute on Aging Working Group. October 1999. Available at www.fetzer.org

  24. Allport G, Ross J. Personal religious orientation and prejudice. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1967;5:447–57.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Ellison CG, Gay DA, Glass TA. Does religious commitment contribute to individual life satisfaction? Soc Forces. 1989;68:100–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Hatch RL, Burg MA, Naberhaus DS, Hellmich LK. The spiritual involvement and beliefs scale: development and testing of a new instrument. J Fam Practice. 1998;46:476–86.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Underwood LG, Teresi JA. The daily spiritual experience scale: development, theoretical description, reliability, exploratory factor analysis, and preliminary construct validity using health-related data. Ann Behav Med. 2002;24:22–33.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Zinnhauer BJ, Pargament KI, Scott A. The emerging meanings of religiousness and spirituality: problems and prospects. J Pers. 1999;67:889–919.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Hall DE, Koenig HG, Meador KG. Conceptualizing “religion”: how language shapes and constrains knowledge in the study of religion and health. Perspect Biol Med. 2004;47:386–401.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Groves RM, Fowler FJ, Couper MP, Lepkowski JM, Singer E, Tourangeau R. Survey Methodology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2004:321–8.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Cohen AB, Hall DE, Koenig HG, Meador KG. Social versus individual motivation: implications for normative definitions of religious orientations. Pers Soc Psychol Rev. 2005;9:48–61.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Marx JH, Spray SL. Religious biographies and professional characteristics of psychotherapists. J Health Soc Behav. 1969;10:275–88.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Bergin AE, Jensen JP. Religiosity of psychotherapists: a national survey. Psychotherapy. 1990;27:3–7.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Neeleman J, King MB. Psychiatrists’ religious attitudes in relation to their clinical practice: a survey of 231 psychiatrists. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1993;88:420–4.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Ward BJ, Tate PA. Attitudes among NHS doctors to requests for euthanasia. BMJ. 1994;308:1332–4.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD, Muller MT, van der Wal G, van Eijk JT, Ribbe MW. Attitudes of Dutch general practitioners and nursing home physicians to active voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Arch Fam Med. 1995;4:951–5.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Schmidt TA, Zechnich AD, Tilden VP, et al. Oregon emergency physicians’ experiences with, attitudes toward, and concerns about physician-assisted suicide. Acad Emerg Med. 1996;3:938–45.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Lee MA, Nelson HD, Tilden VP, Ganzini L, Schmidt TA, Tolle SW. Legalizing assisted suicide—views of physicians in Oregon. N Engl J Med. 1996;334:310–5.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Bachman JG, Alcser KH, Doukas DJ, Lichtenstein RL, Corning AD, Brody H. Attitudes of Michigan physicians and the public toward legalizing physician-assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia. N Engl J Med. 1996;334:303–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Vincent JL. Forgoing life support in western European intensive care units: the results of an ethical questionnaire. Crit Care Med. 1999;27:1626–33.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Christakis NA, Asch DA. Physician characteristics associated with decisions to withdraw life support. Am J Public Health. 1995;85:367–72.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Neumann JK, Olive KE. Absolute versus relative values: effects on family practitioners and psychiatrists. South Med J. 2003;96:452–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Sheehan MC, Munro JG, Ryan JG. Attitudes of medical practitioners towards abortion: a Queensland study. Aust Fam Physician. 1980;9:565–70.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Miller NH, Miller DJ, Pinkston Koenigs LM. Attitudes of the physician membership of the society for adolescent medicine toward medical abortions for adolescents. Pediatrics. 1998;101:E4.

  45. Aiyer AN, Ruiz G, Steinman A, Ho GY. Influence of physician attitudes on willingness to perform abortion. Obstet Gynecol. 1999;93:576–80.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Shuman JJ, Meador KG. Heal Thyself: Spirituality, Medicine, and the Distortion of Christianity. New York: Oxford University Press; 2003.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill, USA

    Farr A. Curlin MD & Marshall H. Chin MD, MPH

  2. Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill, USA

    Farr A. Curlin MD, John D. Lantos MD & Marshall H. Chin MD, MPH

  3. MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill, USA

    Farr A. Curlin MD, John D. Lantos MD & Marshall H. Chin MD, MPH

  4. Section of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill, USA

    John D. Lantos MD

  5. Pritzker School of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill, USA

    Chad J. Roach BS

  6. Committee on Human Development, Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill, USA

    Sarah A. Sellergren MA

Authors
  1. Farr A. Curlin MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. John D. Lantos MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Chad J. Roach BS
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sarah A. Sellergren MA
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Marshall H. Chin MD, MPH
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Farr A. Curlin MD.

Additional information

None of the authors have any financial or other conflicts of interest to report regarding this study or this article.

This study was funded by grant support from The Greenwall Foundation, New York, NY, “The Integration of Religion and Spirituality in Patient Care among U.S. Physicians: A Three-Part Study,” and via the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program (Drs. Curlin, Chin, and Lantos).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Curlin, F.A., Lantos, J.D., Roach, C.J. et al. Religious characteristics of U.S. physicians. J GEN INTERN MED 20, 629–634 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.0119.x

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.0119.x

Key words

search

Navigation