Spirituality and quality of life of physicians who work with the finitude of life

Abstract

Introduction: In the medical field there are still gaps regarding the concept of death and the finitude of life, very often understood as a failure of Medicine and not as an integral part of existence. In this context, the view of death as an error, the failure of a treatment, generates anxiety and demands by doctors themselves, which can affect their physical, mental and spiritual health. Objective: To analyze the relationship between spirituality, religious practices, and quality of life of medical professionals in the field of oncology and palliative care who deal with the finitude of life on a daily basis in a reference hospital in northeastern Brazil. Method: Cross-sectional, analytical and quantitative study with an intentional and convenience sample. Questionnaires were applied to describe the sociodemographic profile, quality of life (WHOQOL - bref) and spirituality using the Brief Religious/Spiritual Coping Scale (Brief RCOPE) and the Spirituality Self Rating Scale (SSRS). Data analysis used the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 13.0 for Windows. The study was approved by the REC of IMIP under Opinion 2,890,118. Result: Twenty oncologists and palliative care physicians participated in the study; most were women (55%), of white ethnicity (60%), Catholic (80%) and married (70%). The SSRS scale identified an average score of 21.75. In the Brief RCOPE, the positive aspect scored 2.64, the negative aspect 1.47, and the total aspect 2.04. There was a significant positive association between the SSRS and RCOP results (p=0.0). When associating WHOQOL - bref with Brief RCOPE, a direct relationship with statistical significance of the psychological domain was obtained with total RCOP (p-value: 0.01) and with negative RCOP (p-value: 0.03). Conclusion: The study showed a relationship between spirituality and quality of life, as well as positive aspects of faith for coping with everyday stress, corroborating the discussion of the importance of including spirituality as a protective factor in health.