Development and Validation of a Scale Assessing Spiritual Needs for Korean Patients with Cancer

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a scale assessing the spiritual needs of Korean patients with cancer. For the scale development, qualitative interviews and theoretical analyses were conducted to extract measurable constructs within the Korean culture. As a result, 26 items were developed for the validation of a scale. The scale was administered to 257 cancer patients; the reliability and validity of the scale were examined using Cronbach's alpha and factor analysis, respectively. The reliability was 0.92. The results of factor analysis revealed five subconstructs: love and connection, hope and peace, meaning and purpose, relationship with God, and acceptance of dying. Given these subconstructs, suggestions are provided for future studies. Spirituality has been shown to be important in the lives of patients with chronic disease. Therefore, having a scale which adequately assesses patients’ spiritual needs is critical to determining how to address these needs in a clinical setting.

Spiritual needs of patients with chronic pain diseases and cancer - validation of the spiritual needs questionnaire

“…Compared to the five dimensions of the Spiritual Needs Scale (SNS) of Yong et al [32] (Table 5), we have similar dimensions, albeit with different weightings, but lack the scale 'acceptance of dying'; this topic was addressed with the single items N12 (talk with someone about the possibility of life after death) and N5 (dissolve open aspects of your life) of the Existentialistic Needs scale. Due to strong side loadings, the items dealing with the topic of Forgiveness were eliminated from the item pool; nevertheless, item N17 (to be forgiven) can be used as a marker item.…”

“…Enrolling cancer patients in hospice home care, it became evident a that spiritual needs may exhibit a great variability; among these needs, family was the most frequently cited one (80%); attending religious services was the most frequently cited unmet need [25]. In Korean patients with cancer, Yong et al identified 5 sub-constructs of spiritual needs [32], i.e., love and connection, hope and peace, meaning and purpose, relationship with God, and acceptance of dying.…”

Instruments Measuring Spirituality in Clinical Research: A Systematic Review

“…Finally, this review was not limited to English-language instruments, but also included some measures initially developed in French, German, and Korean. 51,71,75 In conclusion, this systematic review provides detailed information on instruments to assess the complex relationship between spirituality and health. Results demonstrate the relative scarcity of instruments specifically designed to measure a patient's current spiritual state.…”

“…Twenty-two instruments were classified as measures of general spirituality. 20,37-64 These instruments [73][74][75][76] .…”

Validation of questionnaire on the Spiritual Needs Assessment for Patients (SNAP) questionnaire in Brazilian Portuguese

“…A systematic review published in 2011 reports 35 instruments validated for the assessment of spirituality and four with the concept of need of spirituality: Spiritual Need Inventory (SNI) - assessed for patients near the end of life, Spiritual Interests Related to Illness Tool (SpIRIT) - developed for patients and family members, Spiritual Needs Scale (SNS) - Korean questionnaire with 26 items validated by Yong et al [6], and the Spiritual Needs Questionnaire (SpQN) - developed for patients with chronic diseases [7]. Another systematic revision of spirituality questionnaires in the Portuguese language shows the existence of 20 instruments, 15 of which are translated from other languages, but without the different instruments of spiritual need [8].…”