Religious and Spiritual Practices Among Patients with Cancer

Güz H., Gürsel Ş. B., ÖZBEK OKUMUŞ N.

JOURNAL OF RELIGION & HEALTH, cilt.51, sa.3, ss.763-773, 2012 (AHCI) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 51 Sayı: 3
  • Basım Tarihi: 2012
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s10943-010-9377-0
  • Dergi Adı: JOURNAL OF RELIGION & HEALTH
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.763-773
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Cancer, Religion, Spiritual, Depression, Hopelessness, OF-THE-LITERATURE, BREAST-CANCER, NONMEDICAL TREATMENT, PALLIATIVE CARE, HASTENED DEATH, DEPRESSION, LIFE, HOPELESSNESS, ADJUSTMENT, NEEDS
  • Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency with which cancer patients engage in religious and spiritual practices, the methods used, the reasons for such a search, and the levels of depression and hopelessness in patients who seek spiritual assistance. One hundred and ten radiation oncology patients, who gave voluntary informed consent were included in this study. Questionnaires about religious and spiritual practices were administered, along with the Beck Depression and Beck Hopelessness scales. Twenty percent of the patients preferred spiritual practices. Female gender, lower education levels, and higher depression and hopelessness scores were associated with this preference. The frequency of depression was 18.2%, and the frequency of hopelessness was 20.9%. A significant number of cancer patients engaged in religious and spiritual practices. We recommend that practitioners offer their patients brief but sufficient information about religious and spiritual support and determine their patients' depression and hopelessness levels.