Relationship between mental health and spiritual wellbeing among hemodialysis patients: a correlation study

Abstract

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: The stress of living with a terminal disease has a negative impact on the mental health of hemodialysis (HD) patients. Spirituality is a potential coping mechanism for stressful experiences. Studies on the relationship between spirituality and mental health among HD patients are scarce. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between mental health and spiritual well-being among HD patients. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional observational study on hemodialysis patients at a single center in Brazil, between January and December 2011. METHODS : Mental health was assessed using the General Health Questionnaire and spiritual wellbeing was assessed using the Spiritual Wellbeing Scale; 150 HD patients participated in the study. RESULTS : A significant correlation was found between mental health and spiritual wellbeing (P = 0.001). Spiritual wellbeing was the strongest predictor of mental health, psychological distress, sleep disturbance and psychosomatic complaints. CONCLUSION: Poor mental health was associated with lower spiritual wellbeing. This has important implications for delivery of palliative care to HD patients.

Spiritual Well-Being, Depression, and Stress Among Hemodialysis Patients in Jordan

“…These results are comparable and support results of previous research which revealed that higher levels of spiritual and existential wellbeing are associated with less depression, anxiety and stress in Western hemodialysis patient samples (Lucchetti et al, 2010;Martίnez & Custódio, 2014;Reig-Ferrer et al, 2012). The positive association between spiritual and existential wellbeing, and mental health among the hemodialysis patients in this study has its roots in Islamic teachings, such as the translation of the meaning of the Qur'anic verses: "Those who believe and whose hearts have rest in the remembrance of Allah, Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest" (Qur'an 13: 28) and "Oh you who believe, enter into peace, all of you" (Qur'an 2: 208).…”

“…Individuals may use spirituality and religiosity as coping mechanisms, especially as sources of strength and support, to help overcome the stressful influences of psychological problems associated with physical illnesses (Martίnez & Custódio, 2014;Valcanti, Chaves, Mesquita, Nogueira, & Carvalho, 2012). Spirituality and religiosity help some patients to transcend the realities of illness and suffering and to find meaning, purpose, and direction in their life in the context of their illness (Deal & Grassley, 2012;Reig-Ferrer et al, 2012).…”

Quality of life and well‐being of people receiving haemodialysis treatment in Scotland: A cross‐sectional survey

“…Correspondingly, Tanyi and Werner (2003) demonstrated in another cross-sectional study in the USA (n=65) that spiritual well-being was positively associated with overall psychosocial and psychological adjustment in women receiving HD treatment (p=.01); with a caveat that the study included women only and that the convenience sampling approach means that only those who met the inclusion criteria or those who could address the area of interest were recruited, which can introduce researcher bias. In another study from Brazil (n=150), Martinez and Custodio (2014) found that spirituality was significantly associated with better mental health (p=.001) and that spiritual well-being was the strongest predictor of mental health (p=.003), psychological stress (p=.006), sleep disturbance (p=.002) and psychosomatic complaints (p=.0003); with a limitation that the study was carried out in one dialysis unit. In contrast, Ramirez et al (2012) carried out another cross-sectional study in Brazil (n=170) which showed that using religion did not correlate with depressive or anxiety symptoms, whereas religious struggle (i.e.…”

“…Patel et al, 2002;Song and Hanson, 2009); recruiting participants from one dialysis unit (e.g. Ko et al, 2007;Martinez and Custodio, 2014) and studying a non-representative sample of the dialysis population such as African Americans (Spinale et al, 2008;Thomas and Washington, 2011) or women only (Tanyi and Werner, 2008b). One qualitative study in this review (Yodchai et al, 2011) recruited a sample of only five participants and so, based on its findings, it might not be possible to conclude that all patients employ spirituality/religion as a way of coping with their disease.…”

Utilização Da Escala De Avaliação Da Espiritualidade Em Pacientes Portadores De Lesão Renal Em Hemodiálise

“…Estudo recente constatou que pacientes que consideram a religião/espiritualidade como algo importante ou muito importante em suas vidas apresentam um alto escore de coping religioso/ espiritual, o que fortalece as estratégias utilizadas pelos mesmos como forma de enfrentar a condição de saúde (15) . Autores corroboram com esses achados ao afirmarem que ter uma "boa relação" com Deus ou com um ser superior fortalece a resiliência do indivíduo, ou seja, a capacidade do ser humano de responder às demandas da vida cotidiana de forma positiva, apesar das adversidades ao longo do seu ciclo vital de desenvolvimento, resultando na combinação positiva entre os atributos do indivíduo e seu âmbito familiar, social e cultural (16) .…”