Is pain a main influence for various spiritual needs of patients with terminal cancer?: a multicenter cross-sectional study in southern China 

Abstract

Background: Different degrees of spiritual needs are prevalent in terminal patients, but limited information on the influencing factors of different types of spiritual needs. The effect of pain on spiritual needs is still controversial. The purposes of this study are to investigate the spiritual needs of patients with terminal cancer and analyze their influencing factors, understand the relationship between pain and different types of spiritual needs, and provide a reference for improving the hospice care model of terminal cancer patients in the eastern cultural background. Methods: This study was designed in reference to the STROBE guidelines. Participants were recruited from 4 centers in southern China using convenience sampling (N=224). A cross-sectional study was used to investigate the socio-demographic, clinical case data and spiritual needs of terminal patients. Univariate and multivariate tests were performed in various statistical methods. Results: The spiritual needs of patients with terminal cancer was 71.69 ±19.63. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that religion, place of residence, medical payment method, pain properties and number of pain sites predicted 33.7% of the overall spiritual needs of patients with terminal cancer. Different types of spiritual needs are influenced by different factors. Conclusion: The influence factors of different types of spiritual needs vary, so the spiritual care of patients with terminal cancer needs to give personalized spiritual care according to the content and degree of patients' needs. Nursing staff should pay more attention to the spiritual needs of love and connection, hope and peace of patients with more severe pain level.