Asking patients about their religious and spiritual beliefs: Cross-sectional study of family physicians

Michael Lee-Poy; Moira Stewart; Bridget L. Ryan; Judith Belle Brown

Article Figures & Data

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Table 1.

Demographic and practice characteristics of respondents: N = 139.

CHARACTERISTICS	N (%)^*
Demographic
Sex
• Female	56 (40.3)
• Male	83 (59.7)
Age,^† y
• < 40	29 (20.9)
• 40–49	43 (30.9)
• 50–59	42 (30.2)
• ≥ 60	25 (18.0)
Practice
No. of years in practice^†
• < 10	20 (14.5)
• 10–19	36 (26.1)
• 20–29	54 (39.1)
• ≥ 30	28 (20.3)
No. of patients^†
• < 1000	14 (10.5)
• 1000–1499	24 (18.1)
• 1500–1999	28 (21.0)
• 2000–2499	39 (29.3)
• ≥ 2500	28 (21.1)
FHO practice model
• Yes	108 (77.7)
• No	31 (22.3)

FHO—family health organization.
↵* Not all respondents answered all questions.
↵† Data captured as a continuous variable but presented in this table as categorical.

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Table 2.

Respondents’ frequency of asking about religious and spiritual beliefs, independent religious and spiritual beliefs, and opinions on asking and reasons for not asking patients about their religious or spiritual beliefs

VARIABLES	N (%)^*
Frequency
Asked patients about their religious and spiritual beliefs
• Never	9 (6.6)
• Rarely	51 (37.2)
• Sometimes	71 (51.8)
• Most of the time	6 (4.4)
• Always	0 (0.0)
Independent belief
Having own religious or spiritual beliefs
• Yes	112 (81.8)
• No	25 (18.2)
Opinions on asking
Comfort level
• Not at all	7 (5.1)
• Somewhat	67 (49.3)
• Very	47 (34.6)
• Completely	15 (11.0)
Important to ask
• No	11 (8.0)
• Sometimes	89 (65.0)
• Yes	37 (27.0)
Not relevant to ask
• Yes	69 (51.5)
• No	65 (48.5)
Not my business to ask
• Yes	30 (22.4)
• No	104 (77.6)
Reasons for not asking
Time
• Yes	78 (58.2)
• No	56 (41.8)
Lack of training
• Yes	23 (17.2)
• No	111 (82.8)
Discomfort
• Yes	17 (12.7)
• No	117 (87.3)
Past experience
• Yes	11 (8.2)
• No	123 (91.8)
Other
• Yes	1 (0.7)
• No	133 (99.3)

↵* Not all 139 survey respondents answered all questions.

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Table 3.

Multiple regression analysis of the factors that were statistically significant in the bivariate analyses of asking patients about their religious and spiritual beliefs

FACTORS	β COEFFICIENT	P VALUE
Demographic characteristics
• Sex	0.023	.761
• Age	0.021	.789
Independent beliefs
• Having own religious and spiritual beliefs	−0.116	.138
Opinions on asking
• Comfort level	0.400	< .001^*
• Important to ask	0.277	.001^*
• Not my business to ask^†	0.010	.905
Reasons for not asking
• Time	−0.085	.268
• Past experience	−0.145	.056

↵* Statistically significant.
↵† The positive association here is with those who disagreed with the statement that asking was not their business. In other words, respondents believed asking was their business.

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Table 4.
Multiple regression analysis for factors in relation to physician comfort with asking patients about their religious and spiritual beliefs
FACTORS β COEFFICIENT P VALUE
Opinions on asking
• Important to ask 0.171 .044^*
• Not my business to ask^† 0.252 .003^*
Reasons for not asking
• Lack of training 0.227 .007^*
↵* Statistically significant.
↵† The positive association here is with those who disagreed with the statement that asking was not their business. In other words, respondents believed asking was their business.