Spiritual Wellbeing of Cancer Patients: What Health-Related Factors Matter?

Riklikienė, Olga; Kaselienė, Snieguolė; Spirgienė, Lina; Karosas, Laima; Fisher, John W.

doi:10.1007/s10943-020-01053-0

Original Paper
Published: 14 June 2020

Spiritual Wellbeing of Cancer Patients: What Health-Related Factors Matter?

Journal of Religion and Health volume 59, pages 2882–2898 (2020)Cite this article

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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.

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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.

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Affiliations

Department of Nursing and Care, Faculty of Nursing, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Eiveniu str. 4, Room 607, 50161, Kaunas, Lithuania
Olga Riklikienė & Lina Spirgienė
Department of Health Management, Faculty of Public Health, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Tilžės str. 18, 47181, Kaunas, Lithuania
Snieguolė Kaselienė
Quinnipiac University School of Nursing, 75 Mt Carmel Ave NH-HSC, Hamden, CT, 06518, USA
Laima Karosas
Shalom Spiritual Health Services, 1A Hearn Rd, Brown Hill, VIC, 3350, Australia
John W. Fisher

Authors

Olga Riklikienė
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Snieguolė Kaselienė
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Lina Spirgienė
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Laima Karosas
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John W. Fisher
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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].

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Correspondence to Olga Riklikienė.

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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.

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We have full control over our data, there is no conflict of interest and we allow the journal access to our data if requested.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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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

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Published: 14 June 2020
Issue Date: December 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01053-0

Keywords

Spiritual wellbeing
Cancer patients
Happiness
Life satisfaction
Pain
Lithuania