Using Prayer in Clinical Practice: A Survey on Iranian Physician's Views and Practices

Prayer is one of the most common complementary approaches throughout the world and is highly valued in traditional Islamic medicine in Iran. The aim of this study was to explore the views and practices of physicians on using prayer in the clinical practice, in Tehran, Iran.

In a cross-sectional study in the year 2008, a convenience sample of 131 physicians were included in this survey. Data were collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire. SPSS was used to analyze the data.

Of participants, 52.7 percent were male with the mean age of 38.4±9 years. About 94.5 percent of physicians said that at times they themselves prayed for their patients. About 31.3% said that their patients "often" requested them to pray for them and 58.8% said they have “occasionally” been asked. About 7.1 percent asserted that they believed prayer could not improve the medical condition of the patients. Moreover, only 2.5 percent said they were taught to pray for health improvement through educational courses.

The majority of surveyed physicians would pray for their patients and frequently, the patients had asked them to do so. Developing practical approaches to incorporate prayer into medical practice should be paid attention to. A structured and systematic program based on the results of this study and related investigations can lead to scientific re-introduction of this aspect of Islamic and traditional practice in health promotion.