Problems and Barriers in Prayer Obligation in Hospitalized Patients in Nekooei Hospital of Qom, 2009

Prayer is one of the most important obligations in Islamic culture and the best means to be proximate to God. Although in the context of effects of prayer on human health, sufficient studies have been performed, there are yet very few studies related to prayer obligation of hospitalized patients. This research was carried out with the aim of determining the problems of prayer obligation among inpatients of Nekooei hospital in Qom.

This was a descriptive cross-sectional study based on a questionnaire consisting of two sections (demographic and core questions about characteristic and structural problems of prayer). The questionnaire was constructed by the researcher. 400 hospitalized patients were selected based on randomized sampling method in various wards of Nekooei hospital in Qom city. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

The results revealed that the majority of cases could not perform prayer obligation during hospitalization (72.2%) while these patients doing their religious obligations such as prayer continuously were in normal condition. Among prayer inhibitory parameters in hospitalized patients, personal problems and structural malfunctioning in hospital building were 98.2 and 83.8, respectively. The most important reasons dealt with personal problems were misunderstanding of prayer instructions during illness (36.8%) and inability to perform prayers because of sickness intensity and weakness. (22.5%). Moreover, the majority of prayer inhibitory barriers and problems in hospitalized patients who were saying their prayers in this fashion were due to structural malfunctioning in the hospital (96.4%). Carrying out Cleansing (Teharat) and not taking notice of religious beliefs of “Najes (Filthy) and Pak (Clean)” especially in hospital water closets (45.9%) were among the positive answers regarding these structural malfunctioning.

Based on the results of this study, hospitalized patients in Nekooei hospital have several problems to perform prayer obligation. Therefore, it is suggested that hospital chairman and managers give more emphasis to effective provisions and measures for enhancing the quality of prayer performance in hospital wards with specific attention to personal problems and removing structural barriers.