Abstract
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: \(\chi_{(29)}^{2}\) = 66.94 (χ2/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.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alford, K. R. (2017). Spiritual wellbeing among older cancer patients and implications for Christians in social work. Social work & Christianity, 4(3), 25–38.
Amirian, M. E., & Fazilat-Pour, M. (2016). Simple and multivariate relationships between spiritual intelligence with general health and happiness. Journal of Religion and Health, 55, 1275. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-015-0004-y.
Bai, M., & Lazenby, M. (2015). A systematic review of associations between spiritual wellbeing and quality of life at the scale and factor levels in studies among patients with cancer. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 18(3), 286–298. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2014.0189.
Bekelman, D. B., Rumsfeld, J. S., Havranek, E. P., Yamashita, T. E., Hutt, E., Gottlieb, S. H., et al. (2009). Symptom burden, depression and spiritual wellbeing: A comparison of heart failure and advanced cancer patients. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 24(5), 592–598. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-009-0931-y.
Bezzera, S. M. M. S., Gomes, E. T., Galvao, P. C. C., & Souza, K. V. (2018). Spiritual wellbeing and hope in the perioperative period of cardiac surgery. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 71(2), 398–405. https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2016-0642.
Büssing, A., Fischer, J., Haller, A., Heusser, P., Ostermann, T., & Matthiessen, P. F. (2009). Validation of the brief multidimensional life satisfaction scale in patients with chronic diseases. European Journal of Medical Research, 14, 171–177. https://doi.org/10.1186/2047-783X-14-4-171.
Chaar, E. A., Hallit, S., Hajj, A., Aaraj, R., Kattan, J., Jabbour, H., et al. (2018). Evaluating the impact of spirituality on the quality of life, anxiety, and depression among patients with cancer: An observational transversal study. Supportive Care in Cancer, 26(8), 2581–2590. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-018-4089-1.
Chan, C. L. W., Ng, S. M., Ho, R. T. H., & Chow, A. Y. M. (2006). East meets west: Applying eastern spirituality in clinical practice. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 15(7), 822–832. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2006.01649.x.
Cheng, Q., Liu, X., Li, X., Wang, Y., Mao, T., & Chen, Y. (2019). Improving spiritual wellbeing among cancer patients: Implications for clinical care. Supportive Care in Cancer. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-4636-4.
Chiang, Y. C., Lee, H. C., Chu, T. L., Han, C. Y., & Hsiao, Y. C. (2015). The impact of nurses’ spiritual health on their attitudes toward spiritual care, professional commitment, and caring. Nursing Outlook, 64(3), 215–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2015.11.012.
Cooper-Effa, M., Blount, W., Kaslow, N., Rothenberg, R., & Eckman, J. (2001). Role of spirituality in patients with sickle cell disease. Journal of the American Board of Family Practice, 14(2), 116–122.
Deb, S., Thomas, S., Bose, A., & Aswathi, T. (2019). Happiness, meaning, and satisfaction in life as perceived by Indian university students and their association with spirituality. Journal of Religion and Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00806-w.
Dilmaghani, M. (2018). Religiosity and subjective wellbeing in Canada. Journal of Happiness Studies, 19, 629–664. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-016-9837-7.
Ellison, C. W. (1983). Spiritual wellbeing: Conceptualization and measurement. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 11, 30–340.
Eslami, A. A., Rabiei, L., Khayri, F., Rashidi Nooshabadi, M. R., & Masoudi, R. (2014). Sleep quality and spiritual wellbeing in hemodialysis patients. Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal, 16(7), e17155. https://doi.org/10.5812/ircmj.17155.
Fisher, J. (2010). Development and application of a spiritual wellbeing questionnaire called SHALOM. Religions, 1, 105–121. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel1010105.
Fisher, J. (2011). The four domains model: Connecting spirituality, health and well-being. Religions, 2, 17–28. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel2010017.
Fisher, J. (2012). Staff’s and family members’ spiritual wellbeing in relation to help for residents with dementia. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 2, 77–85. https://doi.org/10.5430/jnep.v2n4p77.
Flint, K. M., Fairclough, D. L., Spertus, J. A., & Bekelman, D. B. (2019). Does heart failure-specific health status identify patients with bothersome symptoms, depression, anxiety and/or poorer spiritual wellbeing? European Heart Journal-Quality of Care and Clinical Outcomes, 1:5(3), 233–241. https://doi.org/10.1093/ehjqcco/qcy061.
Gomez, R., & Fisher, J. W. (2003). Domains of spiritual well-being and development and validation of the Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire. Personality and Individual Differences, 35(8), 1975–1991. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(03)00045-X.
Hills, P., & Argyle, M. (2002). The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire: A compact scale for the measurement of psychological wellbeing. Personality and Individual Differences, 33(7), 1073–1082. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(01)00213-6.
Hooper, D., Coughlin, J., & Mullen, M. (2008). Structural equation modelling: Guidelines for determining model fit. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 6, 53–60. https://doi.org/10.21427/D7CF7R.
Jacobs-Lawson, J. M., Schumacher, M. M., Hughes, T., & Arnold, S. (2010). Gender differences in psychosocial responses to lung cancer. Gender Medicine, 7(2), 137–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genm.2010.03.002.
Juškienė, V. (2016). Spiritual health as an integral component of human wellbeing. Applied Research In Health And Social Sciences: Interface And Interaction, 13(1), 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1515/arhss-2016-0002.
Kanis, S. (2002). Theobiology and gendered spirituality. American Behavioral Scientist, 45(12), 1866–1874. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764202045012009.
Koyama, A., Matsuoka, H., Ohtake, Y., Makimura, C., Sakai, K., Sakamoto, R., et al. (2016). Gender differences in cancer-related distress in Japan: A retrospective observation study. BioPsychoSocial Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13030-016-0062-8.
Lee, S., & Jirásek, I. (2019). Associations between screen-based activity, spiritual wellbeing, and life satisfaction among adolescents. Journal of Religion and Health, 58, 795. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-017-0429-6.
Lim, C., & Putnam, R. D. (2010). Religion, social networks, and life satisfaction. American Sociological Review, 75(6), 914–933. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122410386686.
Mahoney, F., & Barthel, D. W. (1965). Functional evaluation: The Barthel Index. Maryland State Medical Journal, 14, 61–65.
Mashhadimalek, M., Jafarnia Dabanloo, N., & Gharibzadeh, S. (2019). Is it possible to determine the level of spiritual wellbeing by measuring heart rate variability during the reading of heavenly books? Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 8, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-019-09433-3.
Mehdipoorkorani, L., Bahrami, M., & Mosavizade, R. (2019). Impact of a spiritual care program on spiritual wellbeing of oncology nurses: A randomized clinical trial. Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research, 24(1), 38–43. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijnmr.IJNMR_33_18.
Mihaljević, S., Vuksan-Ćusa, B., Marčinko, D., Koić, E., Kušević, Z., & Jakovljević, M. (2011). Spiritual wellbeing, cortisol, and suicidality in Croatian war veterans suffering from PTSD. Journal of Religion and Health, 50(2), 464–473. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-010-9383-2.
Murray, S. A., Kendall, M., Grant, E., Boyd, K., Barclay, S., & Sheikh, A. (2007). Patterns of social, psychological and spiritual decline toward the end of life in lung cancer and heart failure. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 34(4), 393–402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2006.12.009.
Musa, A. S., Pevalin, D. J., & Shahin, F. I. (2016). Impact of spiritual wellbeing, spiritual perspective, and religiosity on the self-rated health of Jordanian Arab Christians. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 27(6), 550–557. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659615587590.
Oxford Happiness Questionnaire. Available online at: http://www.meaningandhappiness.com/oxford‐happiness‐questionnaire/214/. Retrieved on 5 September, 2019.
Phenwan, T., Peerawong, T., & Tulathamkij, K. (2019). The meaning of spirituality and spiritual well-being among Thai breast cancer patients: A qualitative study. Indian Journal of Palliative Care, 25(1), 119–123. https://doi.org/10.4103/IJPC.IJPC_101_18.
Phillips, K. D., Mock, K. S., Bopp, C. M., Dudgeon, W. A., & Hand, G. A. (2006). Spiritual wellbeing, sleep disturbance, and mental and physical health status in HIV-infected individuals. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 27(2), 125–139. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840500436917.
Piderman, K. M., Lapid, M., Stevens, S. R., Ryan, S. M., Somers, K. J., Kronberg, M. T., et al. (2011). Spiritual wellbeing and spiritual practices in elderly depressed psychiatric inpatients. Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling, 65(1–2), 1–11.
Pilger, C., Santos, R. O. P. D., Lentsck, M. H., Marques, S., & Kusumota, L. (2017). Spiritual wellbeing and quality of life of older adults in hemodialysis. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 70(4), 689–696. https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2017-0006.
Riklikienė, O., Kaselienė, S., & Fulton, J. (2018). Translation and validation of spiritual wellbeing questionnaire SHALOM in Lithuanian language, culture and health care practice. Religions, 9, 156. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel9050156.
Rowold, J. (2011). Effects of spiritual wellbeing on subsequent happiness, psychological wellbeing, and stress. Journal of Religion and Health, 50(4), 950–963. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-009-9316-0.
Scheffold, K., Philipp, R., Vehling, S., Koranyi, S., Engelmann, D., Schulz-Kindermann, F., et al. (2019). Spiritual wellbeing mediates the association between attachment insecurity and psychological distress in advanced cancer patients. Supportive Care in Cancer. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-04744-x.
Shor, E., & Roelfs, D. J. (2013). The longevity effects of religious and nonreligious participation: A meta-analysis and meta-regression. Journal of Scientific Study of Religion, 52, 120–145. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12006.
Tamutienė E. (2009). Relation of nurses’ happiness and personality traits with the subjective assessment of mental health [In Lithuanian]. Master thesis, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania. http://vddb.laba.lt/obj/LT-eLABa-0001:E.02~2009~D_20091222_084140-59191. Assessed 15 Oct 2018.
Unterrainer, H. F., Lukanz, M., Pilch, M., Scharf, S., Glawischnig-Goschnik, M., Wutte, N., et al. (2016). The influence of religious/spiritual wellbeing on quality of life in dermatological disease. British Journal of Dermatology, 174(6), 1380–1383. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjd.14359.
Wade, J. B., Hayes, R. B., Wade, J. H., Bekenstein, J. W., Williams, K. D., & Bajaj, J. S. (2018). Associations between religiosity, spirituality, and happiness among adults living with neurological illness. Geriatrics (Basel)., 3(3), 35. https://doi.org/10.3390/geriatrics3030035.
Wang, C. W., Chow, A. Y. M., & Chan, C. L. W. (2017). The effects of life review interventions on spiritual wellbeing, psychological distress, and quality of life in patients with terminal or advanced cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Palliative Medicine, 31(10), 883–894. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216317705101.
Yong, J., Kim, J., Park, J., Seo, I., & Swinton, J. (2011). Effects of a spirituality training program on spiritual and psychosocial wellbeing of hospital middle manager nurses in Korea. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 42(6), 280–288. https://doi.org/10.3928/00220124-20101201-04.
Acknowledgement
The authors acknowledge final-year BSN student nurses Akvile Pukaite and Ieva Paskeviciute who participated in data collection conducting face-to-face interviews with patients. The authors also acknowledge Richard S. Feinn, Associate Professor of Medical Sciences from Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT, USA, for his assistance with statistical interpretation in this paper.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
The study was financially supported by The Research Council of Lithuania Grant for Young Scientists through the project ‘Spirituality in Nursing: Spiritual wellbeing and Spiritual Needs of Non-terminally-ill oncology patients—mixed methods study (SPIRITcare)’ [Grant number S-MIP-17-95].
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical Approval
The Lithuanian Regional Committee on Bioethics issued permission to conduct the study (December 5, 2017, No. BE-2-84). All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Conflict of interest
We have full control over our data, there is no conflict of interest and we allow the journal access to our data if requested.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Riklikienė, O., Kaselienė, S., Spirgienė, L. et al. Spiritual Wellbeing of Cancer Patients: What Health-Related Factors Matter?. J Relig Health 59, 2882–2898 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01053-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01053-0