Spiritual Therapy to Improve the Spiritual Well-Being of Iranian Women with Breast Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial (original) (raw)

Levine, Targ Spiritual Correlates of Functional Well-Being Spiritual Correlates of Functional Well-Being in Women With Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States and constitutes a major source of medical and psychological morbidity. The psychosocial sequelae, while not always severe, can last up to a year after diagnosis. This may be a time when spiritual and social resources become important. It is known that practical and emotional support during treatment for breast cancer benefits the patient's mood and quality of life, but it is unclear as to how spirituality and spiritual well-being may benefit the patient. This study examined this question by exploring the relationships between spirituality, spiritual well-being, physical well-being, functional well-being, mood, and adjustment style in a sample of 191 women recently diagnosed with breast cancer or who had metastatic cancer. The women were asked to complete questionnaires pertaining to the above topics at enrollment to a group intervention study. Measures of spirituality, spiritual well-being, physical well-being, functional wellbeing, mood, and adjustment style taken at the same point in time were then correlated with each other. There were more significant correlations of spirituality and spiritual wellbeing with functional well-being than physical well-being, but items pertaining to meaning and peace tended to correlate significantly with physical well-being. Spirituality also correlated significantly with several coping styles, but not avoidance as has been previously suggested. Regression analyses were also performed to find the best combination of variables to predict physical and functional well-being. A combination of social well-being and several questions pertaining to peacefulness accounted for 18% of the variance in physical well-being. However, a combination of social wellbeing and the spiritual scales accounted for 46% of the variance in functional well-being. When the spiritual scales were examined alone, they accounted for 40% of the variance in functional well-being. The results of this study confirm the importance of spirituality and spiritual well-being in both physical and functional well-being. Asking patients about the role of spirituality in their lives may be a useful marker to predict patient's ability to cope with stress in their lives and of their quality of life. 17 Levine, Targ 166 INTEGRATIVE CANCER THERAPIES 1(2); 2002 pp. 166-174 EGL and ET are at the

Spiritual well-being and quality of life in Iranian women with breast cancer undergoing radiation therapy

Supportive Care in Cancer, 2013

Purpose Psychological distress and morbidity are common consequences of diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer and associated with poor quality of life (QOL). Spiritual well-being is an important aspect of QOL, but little is known about the spiritual well-being and its relationship with QOL in patients of different cultures such as Iranian Muslim patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of QOL and spirituality among patients with breast cancer undergoing radiation therapy. Methods This was a cross-sectional study which was conducted in the Breast Cancer Research Center of St. S. Al-Shohada Hospital, Isfahan, Iran. Spiritual well-being was measured using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being Scale (FACIT-Sp12). The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life (EORTC QLQ-C30) and its supplementary breast cancer questionnaire (QLQ-BR23) were used to assess the quality of life of patients. Descriptive analysis, Pearson's correlation, and multiple regression analysis were performed for statistical assessment. Results In all, 68 patients fulfilled the study's inclusion criteria and were interviewed. The mean global QOL was 41.42 (SD018.02), and the mean spiritual well-being was 28.41 (SD06.95). There was a significant positive correlation between general QOL and total spiritual well-being scores. Also, spiritual well-being, social functioning, pain, and arm symptoms were significant predictors of global QOL.

The Effectiveness of Religious-Spiritual Psychotherapy on the Quality of Life of Women with Breast Cancer

Journal of Babol University of Medical Sciences, 2019

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers around the world that leads to a decreased quality of life. Since one of the supportive measures is the use of spiritual teachings, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of religious care on the quality of life of women with breast cancer. METHODS: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in 2017 among women with breast cancer who referred to Qom health centers at least two months after their diagnosis. Seventy subjects were selected through convenience sampling and were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. For the intervention group, 6 sessions of religiousspiritual psychotherapy were held with the focus of communication with God, other people, self and environment. The quality of life of the subjects was evaluated before the intervention, immediately after the intervention and two months after that using The World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) with mean score of 0-100. FINDINGS: The results showed a significant difference between the dimensions of quality of life in the control and intervention groups: total health and quality of life (57.61±9.42) vs. (60±19.51) (p=0.002), physical health (46.22±19.53) vs. (61.35±13.36) (p=0.016), mental health (57.85±24.16) vs. (67.55±13.24) (p=0.005), social health (54.88±24.44) vs. (62.79±18.35) (p<0.001), and environmental health (62.05±3.55) vs. (67.33±33.43) (p=0.048), indicating that the results were stable over time. CONCLUSION: The results of the study showed that religious-spiritual psychotherapy increases the quality of life of women with breast cancer.

The Correlation Between Spiritual Level and Life Quality of Breast Cancer Patients

Jurnal Aisyah : Jurnal Ilmu Kesehatan

A good quality of life will provide good physical and spiritual health, and will be able to run a life in the community according to their respective roles. The research objective is to determine the correlation between spirituality level with the life quality of breast cancer sufferer. The research type used quantitative research method with cross sectional approach. The measurements used the EORTC QLQ-30 + EORTC BR-23 questionnaire. The research results showed that the spirituality level of sufferer in dealing with breast cancer on average had a high spirituality level of 38 people (84%). There is no correlation between spirituality level with the life quality of breast cancer sufferer this was demonstrated by the results of analysis of Spearman's Test average p value of > 0.05.

The effect of spiritual therapy for improving the quality of life of women with breast cancer: A randomized controlled trial

Psychology, Health & Medicine, 2012

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Spirituality and well-being in cancer patients: a review

Psycho-Oncology, 2009

Objective: Cancer places many demands on the patient and threatens the person's sense of meaning to life. It has been shown that cancer patients use their spirituality to cope with these experiences. The present literature review summarizes the research findings on the relationship between spirituality and emotional well-being. Special attention is given to the strength of the research findings.

Relationship between Spiritual Health and Quality of Life in Patients with Cancer

Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, 2015

As the essence of health in humans, spiritual health is a fundamental concept for discussing chronic diseases such as cancer and a major approach for improving quality of life in patients is through creating meaningfulness and purpose. The present descriptive analytical study was conducted to assess the relationship between spiritual health and quality of life in 210 patients with cancer admitted to the Cancer Institute of Iran, selected through convenience sampling in 2014. Data were collected using Spiritual Health Questionnaire and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ). Patients' performance was assessed through the Karnofsky Performance Status Indicator and their cognitive status through the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Data were analyzed in SPSS-16 using descriptive statistics and stepwise linear regression. The results obtained reported the mean and standard deviation of the patients' spiritual...

Spiritual Wellbeing of Cancer Patients: What Health-Related Factors Matter?

Journal of Religion and Health, 2020

This study aimed to determine the predictors of spiritual wellbeing of non-terminal stage cancer patients hospitalized in oncology units in Lithuania. An exploratory cross-sectional study design was employed. During structured face-to-face interviews, 226 cancer patients hospitalized in oncology units responded about their spiritual wellbeing, perception of happiness, satisfaction with life, pain intensity, levels of education and physical functioning, and length of inpatient stay. A set of standardized tools were used: spiritual wellbeing scale SHALOM, brief multidimensional life satisfaction scale, Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, Barthel Index questionnaire, and verbal pain intensity scale. Additionally, social-and health-related factors were included in data analyses. Structural equation modeling was adapted for a comprehensive assessment of the mediating effect of spiritual wellbeing on the relationship between different health-and value-related factors. The overall fit of the structural model was generally good: 2 (29) = 66.94 (χ 2 /df = 2.31), CFI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.08, and SRMR = 0.06. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Statistics) version 24.0 and Mplus version 8.2. Level of happiness, life satisfaction, and spiritual wellbeing scored in the moderate upper range. The communal domain of spiritual wellbeing rated with the highest mean score and transcendental domain with the lowest score. Education (b = 0.208, p = 0.004), physical functioning (b = 0.171, p = 0.025), and hospital duration (b = − 0.240, p = 0.001) were significant predictors of spiritual wellbeing. Happiness and life satisfaction were negatively influenced by pain intensity, which ranged from mild to moderate. Levels of education, physical functioning, and length of hospital stay predict spiritual wellbeing of non-terminally ill cancer patients. Happiness, as well as life satisfaction, was negatively predicted by pain intensity but had no direct influence on spiritual wellbeing of cancer patients. Spiritual wellbeing positively influences emotional wellbeing (happiness and life satisfaction), and its influence is stronger than the negative influence of physical pain has on emotional wellbeing.

Spiritual needs and their association with indicators of quality of life among non-terminally ill cancer patients: Cross-sectional survey

European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 2019

The study addresses the spiritual dimension of care of non-terminally ill cancer patients by measuring their spiritual needs in association with indicators of quality of life (i.e., happiness, satisfaction with life, pain intensity, functional capacity) and personal and illness characteristics. Method: A descriptive, cross-sectional survey included 227 patients with cancer. All patients that underwent treatment at a nursing and supportive treatment unit were interviewed face-to-face between January and November 2018. Regression models were used to control for gender, education, religiosity, pain intensity, functional capacity, life satisfaction and happiness. Results: The non-terminally ill cancer patients experienced the exceptional importance of Inner Peace and Giving/Generativity and Forgiveness, while Religious and Existential needs were scored marginally lower, but nevertheless much higher as compared to patients with cancer from West-Europe. Correlation analysis revealed strong positive and in one case moderate interconnections among each of four spiritual needs, with the strongest association between Existential needs and the other three domains. Unmet Religious needs were positively associated with pain intensity and reduced physical capacity of patients, but less with life satisfaction. Pain intensity was the strongest predictor of cancer patients' Existential, Inner Peace and Giving/Generativity and Forgiveness needs. Conclusion: This study provides the first empirical evidence about the spiritual needs of cancer patients' care in Lithuania. Findings will serve as the basis for specific strategies to enhance the holistic well-being of these patients. The insights into oncology patients' unmet spiritual needs may be relevant to other Eastern European and former Soviet Union countries with similar developmental histories.

Spirituality and Its Impact on Cancer Patients’ Health-Related Quality of Life

CARC Research in Social Sciences, 2022

The main theme of the present study is to evaluate the impact of spirituality on the quality of life of cancer patients. Moreover, this study is conducted in the following hospitals namely NORI, Shifa hospital, and fuji foundation hospital. A sample size of 50 respondents was randomly selected from the above-mentioned hospitals. The study was analyzed at a univariate level. The findings of the study revealed, that 60.0% of patients have a medium level of spirituality level, and 60.0% of patients find very much comfort and strength in their spiritual practices. The study concluded that spirituality positively affected the quality of life among the study respondents. The study also explores that cancer patients should engage in spiritual activities to enhance their quality of life. Patients should discuss their medical concerns with family members and medical staff so they can offer better care. Patients should have access to both emotional and practical help from family members to make their illness more pleasant.