title: Relationship between Spiritual Health and Quality of Life in Patients with Cancer.
abstract: 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 health scoreas 78.4±16.1and the mean and standard deviation of their quality of life score as 58.1±18.7. The stepwise linear regression analysis confirmed a positive and significant relationship between spiritual health and quality of life in patients with cancer (β=0.688 and r=0.00). The results of the study show that spiritual health should be more emphasized and reinforced as a factor involved in improving quality of life in patients with cancer. Designing care therapies and spiritual interventions is a priority in the treatment of these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management, School of Health, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran E-mail : atefeh.sadeghi@ymail.com.
authors.forename: Rafat
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mohebbifar
authors.forename: Amir H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Pakpour
authors.forename: Azin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nahvijou
authors.forename: Atefeh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sadeghi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D017567:Karnofsky Performance Status; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011379:Prognosis; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D029181:Spirituality; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult