title: Evaluation of spiritual well-being in haemodialysis patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Spirituality can be defined as a personal search for meaning and purpose in life that may or may not encompass religion. In this article we report on the development and testing of an instrument for measuring spiritual well-being within a sample of haemodialysis patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The main instrument, a 21-item Meaning in Life Scale (MiLS), comprises four scales: Life Perspective, Purpose and Goals, Confusion and Lessened Meaning, Harmony and Peace, and Benefits of Spirituality. A total score for spiritual well-being is also produced. We also used the following variables: clinical (time on haemodialysis, modified Charlson comorbidity index), sociodemographic (age, gender), and self-assessments of health, quality of life (general and recent), personal happiness, religiosity, and belief in the afterlife. A cross-sectional study was carried out on 94 haemodialysis patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This study demonstrates that the MiLS-Sp is a psychometrically sound measure of spiritual well-being for dialysis patients (reliability, validity) as they manage the complex demands of a chronic illness. Spiritual well-being was significantly associated with various quality of life variables, health status, personal happiness, or religiosity in patients on dialysis. There was no relationship between spirituality scores and comorbidity, HD duration, gender, or age. Spiritual well-being is relatively low in dialysis patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Spirituality may play an important role on psychological well-being, quality of life, and self-rated health for patients on haemodialysis. Spiritual well-being in these patients is relatively low. Results suggest that assessing and addressing spiritual well-being in dialysis patients may be helpful in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Psicología de la Salud. Universidad de Alicante, Spain. areig@ua.es
authors.forename: Abilio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reig-Ferrer
authors.forename: M Dolores
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Arenas
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ferrer-Cascales
authors.forename: M Dolores
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Fernández-Pascual
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Albaladejo-Blázquez
authors.forename: M Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Gil
authors.forename: Vanesa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: de la Fuente
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000523:psychology*; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires