Attitudes and perceptions of Lebanese medical students toward spirituality in patient care

Healthcare is increasingly adopting a holistic approach that includes spirituality, which has been associated with improved patient outcomes. While spiritual assessment is integrated into medical training in several countries, it has not been systematically incorporated into Lebanese medical curricula despite the country’s religious diversity. To assess Lebanese medical students’ perceptions of integrating spirituality into patient care and examine differences across demographic and spiritual background, and stages of training. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among students from all Lebanese medical schools across American, French, and Lebanese systems. The questionnaire, adapted from validated instruments, included six 5-point Likert-scale items assessing perceptions of spirituality in healthcare, preparedness, and comfort discussing spiritual issues. Demographic and religious/spiritual background data were collected. Bivariate analyses used t-tests and ANOVA. Ordinal logistic regression identified independent predictors of each outcome, after verifying the proportional odds assumption. The number of registered medical students in Lebanon is around 3100. A total of 218 students responded out of the 2000 reached with this survey. Most recognized the importance of spirituality in health and its relevance to physicians’ roles. However, many reported low comfort discussing spirituality and inadequate curricular preparation. Pre-clinical students perceived greater preparedness than clinical students. In adjusted models, personal spirituality predicted belief-based outcomes, while experiential exposure predicted comfort and perceived adequacy. Lebanese medical curricula should integrate structured teaching and supervised clinical exposure to spiritual assessment. Limitations include the cross-sectional design and potential response bias.