King D E, Sobal J, Haggerty J, Dent M, Patton D
Department of Family Medicine, East Carolina School of Medicine, Greenville, NC 27858-4354.
J Fam Pract. 1992 Aug;35(2):158-62.
Recent media attention has focused on patients who use faith healers to care for their medical problems. Many people who use faith healers also consult physicians. This study was done to learn more about how often physicians see patients who are involved in faith healing, and to learn more about physicians' attitudes about, and experiences with, faith healing.
A 1-page questionnaire was mailed to 1025 family physicians in seven states; 594 participated, for a response rate of 59%.
Approximately one half (52%) of the physicians were aware of at least one patient in their practice who had had a faith-healing experience. Most physicians came in contact with such patients no more frequently than once a year. Fifty-five percent agreed and 20% disagreed that reliance on faith healers often leads to serious medical problems. However, 44% thought that physicians and faith healers can work together to cure some patients, and 23% believed that faith healers divinely heal some people whom physicians cannot help.
These results suggest that family physicians are infrequently aware of faith-healing beliefs and experiences among their patients. Family physicians were divided in their views about faith healing, with a majority expressing skepticism about faith healing and a sizeable minority favorable toward it.
近期媒体关注的焦点是那些求助于信仰疗法来治疗自身疾病的患者。许多求助于信仰疗法的人也会咨询医生。开展这项研究是为了进一步了解医生遇到参与信仰疗法的患者的频率，以及医生对信仰疗法的态度和相关经历。
向七个州的1025名家庭医生邮寄了一份1页的调查问卷；594人参与了调查，回复率为59%。
约一半（52%）的医生意识到在他们的诊疗工作中至少有一名患者有过信仰疗法的经历。大多数医生接触这类患者的频率不超过一年一次。55%的医生同意，20%的医生不同意依赖信仰疗法常常会导致严重的医疗问题。然而，44%的医生认为医生和信仰疗法从业者可以共同努力治愈一些患者，23%的医生相信信仰疗法从业者能神奇地治愈一些医生无法医治的人。
这些结果表明，家庭医生很少了解患者中的信仰疗法观念和经历。家庭医生对信仰疗法的看法存在分歧，大多数人对信仰疗法表示怀疑，也有相当一部分人持赞同态度。
