Can Faith Protect From Emotional Distress After Stroke?

Abstract

Background and Purpose-Emotional distress is common in the aftermath of stroke and can impact negatively on the outcome. The study was aimed at evaluating whether religious beliefs can protect from emotional distress. Methods-Data were collected from 132 consecutive inpatients who were hospitalized for stroke rehabilitation and met the research requirements. At admission all study participants received a semi-structured interview on religious beliefs (Royal Free Interview for religious and spiritual beliefs) and were assessed on their mood with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The relationship between religious beliefs and mood was explored, adjusting for possible confounders. Results-Subjects with over-threshold Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale scores had significantly lower Royal FreeInterview scores (odds ratio, 0.95; CI, 92 to 98). The direction and magnitude of the association did not change after adjusting for possible confounders (odds ratio, 0.95; CI, 91 to 98). The same pattern was observed when analyzing separately Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale anxiety and depression subscales. The other significant variable was functional dependence. Conclusions-The strength of religious beliefs influences the ability to cope after a stroke event, with stronger religious beliefs acting as a possible protective factor against emotional distress. (Stroke. 2007;38:993-997.)Key Words: rehabilitation Ⅲ stroke E motional distress is a relatively frequent complication after stroke. In particular, poststroke depression has been the topic of many studies. The pooled estimate is 33% (95% CI, 29% to 36%). Differences in the case mix, inclusion criteria, and methods of assessment can make results different across studies. 1,2 A recent Italian study found poststroke depression in 36% of stroke survivors. 3 The small population size which is usual in this strand of literature does not allow reliable models and only stroke severity is associated with depression. 2,4,5 However, female gender and previous cerebrovascular or depressive episodes, but not site, were also associated variables. 3 According to the Swedish national quality assessment register Risk-Stroke, antidepressant medication is used by 22.5% of men and 28.1% of women who experienced a stroke. 6 Poststroke depression negatively affects outcome either during hospitalization or after discharge. 7,8,9 Therefore, this issue is important in rehabilitation and deserves a deeper insight. So far, physical variables as well as health history were considered in the literature, whereas faith has never been studied. Faith is an overall concept. Spirituality and religiosity are more focused concepts, but they are not synonymous. Spirituality is concerned with the transcendent with addressing ultimate questions about life's meaning, assuming that there is more than what can be seen or understood. 10 The concept is generally taken to mean believing, valuing, or being devoted to some high power outside the corporeal world. By contrast, religiosity involves a doct...

Religious Faith and Psychosocial Adaptation among Stroke Patients in Kuwait: A Mixed Method Study

“…Further critical evaluation is provided at the end of this section. Giaquinto et al (2007) also presented results in support of those of Robinson-Smith (2002) and in contrast to those of this study. They reported that religious beliefs were associated with lower anxiety and depression scores among Italian stroke patients (predominantly Christian).…”

“…Research studies appear to show a positive relationship between religious practices, such as prayer, and coping with illness and medical treatment (Kaye and Raghavan 2002). In the stroke context, limited evidence suggests that religion may help to reduce emotional distress post-stroke, although in cases where patients believe their stroke has been a punishment from God, emotional distress is increased (Giaquinto et al 2007). This finding highlights the need to assess what types of religious coping strategies patients are using and any negative coping such as denial, fatalism, or blaming.…”

“…These authors investigated life satisfaction, quality of life and spirituality in cancer and rehabilitation patients. Although Western literature suggests a distinction between religion and spirituality (Giaquinto et al 2007;Williams and Sternthal 2007), Rassool (2000) points out that in the Islamic context, the terms "spirituality" and "religion" have the same meaning. Evidence described above suggests that spirituality and religious faith could be associated with better health outcomes and life satisfaction in the rehabilitation of neurological patients.…”

Spirituality and life satisfaction in adults with pediatric-onset spinal cord injury

“…For example, adults who were admitted to hospital for stroke rehabilitation and who scored high in religious and spiritual beliefs endorsed lower levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms than less religious/spiritual individuals. 6 Increased spirituality in adults with non-acute traumatic brain injury was associated with positive psychological coping strategies. 7 In studies with a sample of heterogeneous adult rehabilitation patients, including individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI), increased spirituality was associated with higher levels of quality of life and increased life satisfaction.…”

Vision-specific and psychosocial impacts of low vision among patients with low vision at the eastern regional Low Vision Centre

“…Cases and controls did not however differ in their score on ocular pain and discomfort subscales (Table 3), p = 0.098; therefore, the experience of pain and discomfort was similar in both groups. The similar experience of ocular pain and discomfort subscale among cases and controls may be because of many factors which may include, but not limited to, social support that alleviates pain 31 and religious beliefs 32 that enable people to endure suffering, pain and discomfort, therefore making the experience of pain and discomfort a less contributing factor to reduced quality of life among cases. Furthermore, most causes of low vision do not have ocular pain as an associated factor.…”