Physician offered prayer and patient satisfaction

While there is ongoing debate about the role of physician-offered prayer during the physician-patient encounter, many physicians feel inclined to include prayer in their practices. This randomized-controlled trial evaluated patients' acceptance of physician-offered prayer in a family practice setting, and the impact of physician-offered prayer on patient satisfaction with the physician-patient encounter.

Subjects were 137 patients in an urban, largely African American, Southeastern family medicine practice who were randomized to receive usual care plus an offer of physician-led prayer or usual care alone. Satisfaction surveys were administered following the clinical encounter. The outcomes of interest were the rate of acceptance of physician-offered prayer and the impact of the prayer offer on patient satisfaction. Personal characteristics and satisfaction scores for patients accepting prayer were compared to those for patients declining prayer.

Over 90% of patients accepted the offer of prayer. The offer of prayer had no significant impact on patient satisfaction scores. The number of patients declining prayer was too low to permit comparison of prayer decliners with acceptors.

This small pilot trial demonstrated that patient responses to spiritual interventions by physicians can be evaluated using randomized study designs. A large majority of patients accepted an offer of physician-led prayer, but no significant short-term impact on patient satisfaction was detected. Future research with larger sample sizes and more diverse patient populations should evaluate the effects of physician-offered prayer on the physician-patient relationship. Difficulties in conducting such research are discussed.