Assessing Spiritual Distress and Religious Practices Over Time in Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy Treatment

Helga Martins1 & Silvia Caldeira2
1Helga Martins
Pos-doctoral Fellow at Integral Human Development Program, PhD, RN, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Doctoral School (CADOS). Faculty of Health Sciences and Nursing, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Health, Lisbon, Portugal.
Instituto Politécnico de Beja, Escola Superior de Saúde. R. Dr. José Correia Maltez, 7800-111 Beja, Portugal.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5804-7934
E-mail: hemartins@ucp.pt

2Sílvia Caldeira
PhD, MSc, RN, Associate Professor, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Faculty of Health Sciences and Nursing, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Health, Lisbon, Portugal.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9804-2297
E-mail: scaldeira@ucp.pt

Assessing Spiritual Distress and Religious Practices Over Time in Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy Treatment

You can read the latest publication at the Integral Human Development blog: Link: Spiritual distress and religious involvement among cancer patients receiving chemotherapy: A longitudinal study – PubMed

Martins, H., Domingues, T. D., & Caldeira, S. (2024). Spiritual distress and religious involvement among cancer patients receiving chemotherapy: A longitudinal study. International Journal of Nursing Knowledge, 35(3), 272–280. https://doi.org/10.1111/2047-3095.12442

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the trajectories of spiritual distress and religious involvement among cancer patients during chemotherapy.
Methods: A prospective longitudinal study was conducted over 15 months with quarterly data collection, in a total of with five cut points. Data collection was applied a questionnaire that embraced sociodemographic characteristics, clinical profile, Spiritual Distress Scale, and Belief into Action Scale. Regarding, data analysis was performed univariate, bivariate, and multivariate statistics, and the study was approved by the Ethics Committee.
Findings: From the 322 cancer patients at the beginning, the attrition rate was 17.5% in the last time point. Most of participants were women (56.6%), with an average age of 60.3 years, and had a religious affiliation (93.7%). Statistically significant values were found of spiritual distress and religious involvement across the five cuts. At the end of 3 months after starting chemotherapy, the highest value of spiritual distress and the lowest value of religious involvement were reached.
Conclusions: Cancer patients who are submitted to chemotherapy, after 3 months of treatment experience the peak of spiritual distress and the lowest value of religious involvement. This critical period for nurses’ is required a massive approach regarding spiritual and religious needs.
Implications for nursing practice: Therefore, knowing the trajectories of spiritual distress and religious involvement during a certain period allows for the anticipating of planning of nursing therapeutic interventions in order to promote spiritual health and spiritual well-being outcomes in cancer patients

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