Opinions and practices of medical rehabilitation professionals regarding prayer and meditation

OBJECTIVE: To assess the attitudes and practices of professionals in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) regarding prayer and meditation. DESIGN: A national mail survey that included questions about the use of a number of complementary and alternative therapies. PARTICIPANTS: The survey was mailed to 7,479 physicians, nurses, physical therapists, and occupational therapists who specialize in PM&R, and 1221 (17%) returned completed surveys. RESULTS: Although the majority of respondents endorsed prayer as a legitimate health care practice, there was greater belief in the benefits of meditation. Older respondents were more likely to recommend meditation to their patients and more likely to meditate themselves. Gender differences that were observed in opinions and practices are better interpreted as differences in professional specialty. In general, nurses and occupational therapists responded more positively toward meditation and prayer than did physicians and physical therapists. Personal use of a technique was the strongest predictor of professional behaviors. Attitude was a stronger predictor of professional use or referral for prayer than meditation, but correlations between attitude and behavior were generally weak for both techniques. Despite their acceptance of these techniques, the vast majority of rehabilitation professionals did not refer their patients for meditation or religious consultation. CONCLUSIONS: Although there were significant relationships among beliefs, and personal and professional behaviors regarding these techniques, a large part of the variance in professional behaviors was not accounted for by age, gender, opinion, or personal behavior, indicating that other influences exert a stronger effect on professional practice decisions.