Spirituality is associated with better prostate cancer treatment decision making experiences

Abstract

This study examined whether spiritual beliefs are associated with greater decision-making satisfaction, lower decisional conflict and decision-making difficulty with the decision-making process in newly diagnosed men with prostate cancer. Participants were 1114 men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer who had recently made their treatment decision, but had not yet been treated. We used multivariable linear regression to analyze relationships between spirituality and decision-making satisfaction, decisional conflict, and decision-making difficulty, controlling for optimism and resilience, and clinical and sociodemographic factors. Results indicated that greater spirituality was associated with greater decision-making satisfaction (B = 0.02; p < 0.001), less decisional conflict (B = -0.42; p < 0.001), and less decision-making difficulty (B = -0.08; p < 0.001). These results confirm that spiritual beliefs may be a coping resource during the treatment decision-making process. Providing opportunities for patients to integrate their spiritual beliefs and their perceptions of their cancer diagnosis and trajectory could help reduce patient uncertainty and stress during this important phase of cancer care continuum.

Cultural challenges to engaging patients in shared decision making

“…Individuals from different racial/ethnic groups or cultures may have religious or spiritual belief systems that contribute to their medical care seeking. (33, 40–41), as we have demonstrated among patients with colorectal cancer (Figure 2) and breast cancer (Figure 3) (27, 37). In both studies, patients of minority race/ethnic background were much more likely to endorse the role of spirituality in care seeking than their white counterparts.…”

Influence of Men’s Personality and Social Support on Treatment Decision-Making for Localized Prostate Cancer

“…Two reports based on a sample of a LPC patient cohort found that increased spirituality was associated with greater decisional satisfaction, less decisional conflict, less decision-making difficulty, and less decisional regret [7, 8]. In addition, increased spirituality was shown to be associated with increased physical and mental health of men with prostate cancer, including improvement in emotional well-being and decrease in symptom distress and anxiety [38].…”

“…Since mortality is essentially the same for each treatment [4], experts recommend that treatment choice should be responsive to patient preferences [5]. These personal preferences have been shown to be shaped by a patient's own beliefs, personality traits [6–8], and the people that he interacts with during the decision-making process [7, 9–20], though many of these studies were performed in majority white populations. Understanding how men's personality traits and social influences impact the treatment decision-making process in a diverse population is important for physicians and other healthcare professionals to provide the best support possible for individual patients as they choose the best treatment for their unique circumstances.…”

“…Partners and spouses often are involved in discussions about LPC treatment choices with both patients and providers and in choosing the final LPC treatment option [9–11]. Being married or cohabitating was reported to be associated with less decisional conflict and less decision-making difficulty [7]. Being married was also found to be positively associated with choosing curative treatment for LPC, specifically prostatectomy [12], and negatively associated with choosing AS/WW [13].…”

Antropologia Médica Vitalista: uma ampliação ao entendimento do processo de adoecimento humano

“…Incorporando as correlações existenciais, religiosas e espirituais da Antropologia Filosófica (evolução das espécies e antropogênese; homem e Divindade; conduta ética-moral e essência espiritual; evolução espiritual e experiências de vida, dentre outras) [5][6][7] , a Antropologia Médica Vitalista também traz subsídios ao entendimento da influência das dimensões não materiais, espirituais e religiosas na etiopatogenia das doenças e nas práticas de promoção à saúde 57 , abordagem que vem assumindo importância crescente em relação ao enfrentamento, prognóstico, prevenção e tratamento de inúmeros distúrbios orgânicos [58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71] . Por valorizar esses aspectos espirituais e religiosos da individualidade no direcionamento da atenção clínica, a Associação Psiquiátrica Americana incluiu no Manual Diagnóstico e Estatístico de Transtornos Mentais (DSM-IV.…”