Evaluation of Distress and Religious Coping Among Cancer Patients in Turkey

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine distress levels and religious coping styles of cancer patients and the relationship between religious coping styles and distress. This study was conducted as descriptive design. It was determined that 60.7% of the patients experienced distress related to the disease. The field of problem from which the patients mostly experienced distress was physical problems. It was observed that positive coping scores of the patients were higher. There was a negative correlation between their mean scores for positive religious styles and distress total scores.

Relationship between symptom burden, medication adherence and spiritual well‐being in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

“…Turkey is a secular country that carries characteristics of eastern culture, and Turkish population is mainly composed of Muslims (98%; Silverstein, 2003). In this context, Turkish people generally tended to see their illness as a natural occurrence, penance for sin, or destiny, and use religious coping mechanisms like praying during the disease process (Karabulutlu, Yaralı, & Karaman, 2019). Till date, only one study examined spiritual well‐being in Japanese COPD patients and reported lower spiritual well‐being score (mean = 27.0) compared to our study (mean = 34.5; Hasegawa et al, 2017).…”

Relationship between the religious attitudes of women with gynecologic cancer and mental adjustment to cancer

“…In the literature, numerous studies have reported there to be a positive correlation between religion and physical and mental health (Shaheen Al Ahwal et al, 2016; Ng et al, 2017; Fradelos et al, 2018; Sharif et al, 2018; Karabulutlu et al, 2019). In one previous study, women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer or gynecologic cancer and who had completed their treatment reported that religion was their coping mechanism (Lauver et al, 2007).…”

“…It may be possible to state that fighting against disease based on a religious reference increases the mental adjustment to cancer. Turning onto religion, worship and prayer in front of life-threatening diseases such as cancer helps people to adjust to and cope with their current situation (Salsman et al, 2015; Ng et al, 2017; Saso et al, 2017;Fradelos et al, 2018; Karabulutlu et al, 2019). Religion increases the positive emotional situation of people by decreasing the effect of stressing events in life (Albayrak et al, 2019; Sharif and Ong, 2019).…”

“…Additionally, Johannessen-Henry et al (2013) stated that religious beliefs decreased the anxious preoccupation subdimension of negative coping methods in mixed cancer groups. In previous studies conducted with cancer patients, participants drew strength from their religious beliefs, and this helped them to cope with their disease (Tsai et al, 2016; Kaliampos and Roussi, 2017; Karabulutlu et al, 2019). The results of the present study on this matter are compatible with those reported in the literature.…”

“…The qualitative study by Ahaddour and Broeckaert (2018) reported that religious approaches of Muslim women who were diagnosed with cancer such as thinking of the disease as a condition from God affected patients positively on coping with the problems caused by the disease (Ahaddour and Broeckaert, 2018). Previous studies in the literature conducted with women with breast cancer reported that religious practices (prayer and meditation) contributed to the mental adjustment of women with cancer to the disease (Ng et al, 2017; Saso et al, 2017; Fradelos et al, 2018; Park et al, 2018; Karabulutlu et al, 2019). Also, studies conducted in Turkey have indicated that religious practices were common among gynecologic cancer patients (Nazik et al, 2012; Duman et al, 2018).…”