Should my provider pray with me? Perspectives of urban adolescents with asthma on addressing religious and spiritual issues in hypothetical clinical settings.

This qualitative study examined the preferences of urban adolescents with asthma for including religious/spiritual (R/S) inquiry in a variety of hypothetical clinical encounters. Twenty-one urban adolescents (M(age) = 15.6 years, 52 % female, 81 % African American) with asthma participated in a semi-structured interview. Interviews were transcribed and underwent a thematic analysis. R/S preferences were contextual rather than personal, driven by: (1) acuity of the hypothetical clinical context; (2) nature of the patient-provider relationship; and (3) level of R/S intervention/inquiry. Most adolescents welcomed prayer if near death, but did not see the relevance of R/S in a routine office visit.