Religious themes in medical journals.

Area of Science:

• Medical Humanities
• Sociology of Religion
• Clinical Research

Background:

• The intersection of medicine and religion is increasingly recognized as a significant area for scholarly inquiry.
• Previous assumptions suggested an intensifying dialogue between medical and religious spheres.

Purpose of the Study:

• To empirically assess the extent of religious themes within clinical medical literature.
• To investigate the frequency of religion-related content in prominent medical journals over a decade.

Main Methods:

• A content analysis was performed on articles published in four major clinical medical journals.
• The study period spanned from 1981 to 1991, encompassing a decade of publications.

Main Results:

• A minimal presence of religious themes was found, with only 13 out of 17,345 articles referencing religion.
• This indicates a significant underrepresentation of religious topics in the examined medical journals.

Conclusions:

• The empirical data reveals a limited interaction between clinical medicine and religious discourse.
• Potential factors for this neglect include academic hostility, disinterest, insufficient research, and the rise of ethics/humanities as substitutes.
• Scholars in the field of religion are encouraged to contribute to medical journals to bridge this gap.