Correlations between spiritual beliefs and health-related quality of life of chronic hemodialysis patients in Taiwan.
This study evaluated the correlations between spiritual beliefs and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of hemodialysis (HD) patients in Taiwan. Participants had to complete two questionnaires: the 36-item Short Form Health Survey Questionnaire and the Royal Free Interview for Spiritual and Religious Beliefs. They were then divided into three groups according to their strength of spiritual beliefs-having no, weak, or strong beliefs. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data among groups were compared. Correlations between spiritual beliefs and HRQOL were then determined by the analysis of covariance and the post hoc Scheffe tests. Six hundred thirty-three patients completed the study. There were more women in the group of patients with strong beliefs (P = 0.005) and more less-educated patients in the group of patients with weak beliefs (P = 0.005). Patients with no or with strong spiritual beliefs had higher role physical (P = 0.01) and social functioning (SF) (P = 0.001) scores than patients with weak beliefs. After adjustment for gender, age, marital status, education, comorbidities, and time on dialysis, patients with no or with strong spiritual beliefs were found to have higher SF scores (P = 0.02) than patients with weak beliefs. HD patients with no or strong spiritual beliefs had higher SF HRQOL than those with weak spiritual beliefs.
Kao
Tze-Wah
TW
National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
Chen
Pau-Chung
PC
Hsieh
Chia-Jung
CJ
Chiang
Hong-Wei
HW
Tsang
Lap-Yuen
LY
Yang
Ing-Fang
IF
Tsai
Tun-Jun
TJ
Chen
Wan-Yu
WY
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012067:Religion; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000523:psychology*; D013140:Spiritualism; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan