Opinions, Attitudes and Beliefs Regarding Spirituality and Religiosity in the Clinical Practice of Dental Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the opinions, attitudes and beliefs of dental students regarding the role of spirituality and religiosity (S/R) in clinical practice.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted in a Brazilian dental school. The Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Network for Research Spirituality and Health (NERSH) questionnaire was used. Descriptive analyses were conducted to report data and logistic regression models were constructed to identify the factors associated with students' opinions, attitudes and beliefs about S/R.

RESULTS

A total of 336 undergraduate dental students (response rate = 83.1%) were included, predominantly females (66.4%) and mean age of 22.2 (SD: 3.6) years. Most students identified as moderately/very spiritual (69.6%) and religious (64.9%), considered it appropriate to address S/R when a patient/relative brings them up (69%), and agreed that beliefs could greatly influence a patient's health (61%). This influence was also noted for dental conditions such as temporomandibular joint dysfunction (68.5%), periodontal disease (63.4%) and dental caries (50.4%). However, most (78.0%) had never addressed S/R during consultations and did not receive formal training (84.8%). Seven out of ten students reported barriers that discourage them from discussing S/R, including fear of offending patients, professional neutrality and subject discomfort. Generally, older students, male students, those at more advanced stages of the programme, and those with stronger S/R beliefs tended to have more positive opinions and attitudes toward the subject.

CONCLUSION

Although most dental students hold positive opinions and attitudes toward S/R in clinical practice, structured training and systematic approaches remain lacking. These findings underscore the importance of non-biological factors in dentistry.