Prevalence and Nature of Spiritual Distress Among Palliative Care Patients in India

In palliative care research, little attention has been paid to the empirical study of spirituality in patients in non-Western countries. This study describes the prevalence and nature of spiritual distress among Indian palliative care patients. Data from 300 adult cancer patients who had completed a...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of religion and health
Main Author: Gielen, Joris (Author)
Contributors: Bhatnagar, Sushma (Other) ; Chaturvedi, Santosh K. (Other)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V. [2017]
In: Journal of religion and health
Further subjects:B Spirituality
B Palliative Care
B Cancer
B India
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:In palliative care research, little attention has been paid to the empirical study of spirituality in patients in non-Western countries. This study describes the prevalence and nature of spiritual distress among Indian palliative care patients. Data from 300 adult cancer patients who had completed a questionnaire with 36 spirituality items were analyzed. Spirituality was shaped by the Indian religious and economic context. A latent class analysis resulted in three clusters: trustful patients (46.4 %), spiritually distressed patients (17.4 %), and patients clinging to divine support (36.2 %). After regression, the clusters were found to be associated with pain scores (p < .001), gender (p = .034), and educational level (p < .006). More than half of the patients would benefit from spiritual counselling. More research and education on spirituality in Indian palliative care is urgently required.
ISSN:1573-6571
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religion and health
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10943-016-0252-5