Brazilian Physiotherapists' Perceptions on Spirituality, Religiosity and Health: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

A cross-sectional qualitative-quantitative study was conducted to outline the profile of physiotherapists in terms of their own spirituality and to analyze their perception of the effect of spirituality or religiosity on patient recovery. A self-administered Google Forms questionnaire, including the Spiritual Well-being Scale and the Duke University Religion Index, as well as two open questions was applied in 374 physiotherapists. Women exhibited higher non-organizational and intrinsic religiosity, while men showed higher intrinsic religiosity (p=0.005). Those living with partners also had a higher level of spirituality (p<0.005). Brazilian physiotherapists believe that the level of spirituality interferes with treatment outcomes, often encourage faith, hope, optimism, meditative practices, relaxing music and breathing exercises, and the search for significance in health problems.