We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
Predictors of spirituality at the end of life.
- Authors
Mystakidou K; Tsilika E; Prapa E; Smyrnioti M; Pagoropoulou A; Lambros V; Mystakidou, Kyriaki; Tsilika, Eleni; Prapa, Efi; Smyrnioti, Marilena; Pagoropoulou, Anna; Lambros, Vlahos
- Abstract
<bold>Objective: </bold>To assess the relationship between spirituality and hopelessness, desire for hastened death, and clinical and disease-related characteristics among patients with advanced cancer, and to investigate predictors of spirituality. Spiritual well-being is thought to have a beneficial effect on patients' response to illness.<bold>Design: </bold>Patients were asked to complete 4 questionnaires: the Greek version of the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale, the Greek version of the Schedule of Attitudes toward Hastened Death, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, and a questionnaire on demographics.<bold>Setting: </bold>A palliative care unit in Athens, Greece.<bold>Participants: </bold>A total of 91 patients with advanced cancer.<bold>Main Outcome Measures: </bold>Associations between scores on the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs scale and scores on the Schedule of Attitudes toward Hastened Death scale and the Beck Hopelessness scale, and demographic characteristics.<bold>Results: </bold>Statistically significant associations were found between spirituality and sex of patients (P = .001) and spirituality and stronger hopelessness (r = 0.252, P = .016). In multivariate analyses, stronger hopelessness, male sex, younger age, and receiving chemotherapy were found to be the strongest predictors of being spiritual.<bold>Conclusion: </bold>Demographic and clinical characteristics and stronger hopelessness appeared to have statistically significant relationships with spirituality. Interventions to improve patients' spiritual well-being should take these relationships into account.
- Publication
Canadian Family Physician / Médecin de Famille Canadien, 2008, Vol 54, Issue 12, p1720
- ISSN
0008-350X
- Publication type
journal article