Praying correlates with higher quality of life: results from a survey on complementary/alternative medicine use among a group of Brazilian cancer patients

Abstract

CONTEXT: The use of complementary/alternative medicine has been little studied in Brazil. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of complementary/alternative medicine use among a group of Brazilian cancer patients and correlate these findings with the patients' quality of life. TYPE OF STUDY: Descriptive. SETTING: Oncology Institute of the Faculdade de Medicina do ABC, Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil. PARTICIPANTS: 100 cancer patients. PROCEDURES: The EORTC QLQ C-30 quality of life questionnaire was applied together with another questionnaire on the use of complementary/alternative medicine. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Use of complementary/alternative medicine and quality of life. RESULTS: 89% of the patients had already used complementary/alternative medicine, 63% were currently using it and most of them (77.7%) believed in the efficacy of complementary/alternative medicine for their treatment. The type most used was individual prayer (77.5%). We found a significant association between believing in the efficacy of complementary/alternative medicine and praying (individually or in groups), in comparison with better scores on the functional (p = 0.001) and overall health (p = 0.001) quality of life scales. Multivariate analysis confirmed these findings regarding praying and also showed that believing in complementary/alternative medicine correlated significantly with functional and symptom quality of life scores. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of complementary/alternative medicine use in this group of cancer patients was high. Praying and belief in the efficacy of complementary/alternative medicine correlated significantly with an overall better quality of life, and therefore these practices should not be discouraged by physicians. New prospective studies should be conducted in order to better characterize the efficacy of such alternative therapeutic approaches.

Aspectos da amizade de adolescentes portadores de diabetes e câncer

“…O fato de a maioria dos pacientes com câncer não buscar apoio em caso de dúvida ou medo e não con-versar com ninguém (Chaves et al, 2005) é preocupante, e seria importante investigar como os amigos poderiam auxiliar nesses casos. Diante da constatação de que a maioria dos pacientes com câncer (77,5%) tinha como recurso alternativo mais utilizado a oração individual (Samano et al, 2004), pode-se perceber que essas pessoas têm buscado em outrem (na figura divina) conforto e confiança. Seria importante investigar como os amigos poderiam atuar nessa situação.…”

“…Em outra investigação de orientação psicossocial com pacientes de câncer, Samano et al (2004) observaram que a maioria já havia usado medicina alternativa ou complementar alguma vez (89,0%). A maioria (77,7%) acreditava em sua eficácia, e o tipo mais utilizado foi a oração individual (77,5%).…”

Low-cost outpatient chemotherapy regimen of cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin for advanced head and neck and esophageal carcinomas

“…This questionnaire had previously been used in Portuguese. 9,10 Toxicity was analyzed in accordance with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) criteria 11 before each cycle. KPS and clinical and laboratory parameters were also evaluated before each cycle.…”

O conceito de espiritualidade e sua interface com a religiosidade e a Psicologia Positiva

“…Outra vertente de estudos associa os dois termos num conceito só se referindo à religiosidade/espiritualidade como uma dimensão importante no enfrentamento de situações adversas (Ironson, Stuetzle & Fletcher, 2008;Park, 2007; MoreiraAlmeida, Lotufo-Neto & Koenig, 2006;Panzini & Bandeira, 2005;Samano et al, 2004;Pargament & Mahoney, 2002). Nessa linha de pensamento, consideram que os construtos se sobrepõem e usam apenas o termo espiritualidade num sentido mais amplo incluindo religiosidade.…”