Objectives: Religion and spirituality are increasingly recognized as important in the care of seriously ill patients. This study evaluates religious and spiritual beliefs and practices among pediatric oncology faculty and compares their religiosity and spirituality to the general public.
Methods: Information was gathered from a sampling frame of all pediatric oncology faculty working in 13 US News and World Report's "honor role" hospitals. These data were compared with the general public (using the General Social Survey), through frequency distributions, descriptive crosstabs, and tests of significance, including chi(2) statistics.
Results: Eighty-five percent of pediatric oncology faculty described themselves as spiritual. In all, 24.3% reported attending religious services 2 to 3 times a month or more in the past year. Twenty-seven percent of pediatric oncologists believed in God with no doubts. In all, 52.7% believed their spiritual or religious beliefs influence interactions with patients and colleagues. Among the general public 40.1% reported attending religious services 2 to 3 times a month or more in the past year (P<0.01) and 60.4% believed in God with no doubts (P<0.001).
Conclusions: Although many have no traditional religious identity, large fractions of pediatric oncology faculty described themselves as spiritual. This may have implications for the education of pediatric oncologists and the spiritual care of seriously ill children and their families.