Spiritual well-being, symptoms and performance of patients under palliative care.
Bárbara Vitória Mendes, Suzana Cristina Teixeira Donato, Thaina Lúcio da Silva and 3 others
PMID 37042924WHAT IT FOUND
In palliative care, higher depression and anxiety scores linked to lower spiritual well-being.
More symptoms also tied to worse physical function. These are correlations, not proof that treating one improves the other.
Key findings
01Depression showed a moderate negative correlation with spiritual well-being, while anxiety, sadness, dyspnea and drowsiness showed weak negative correlations.
02Symptom overload had a weak negative correlation with functional performance, meaning patients with more symptoms had lower performance scores.
03Anxiety and depression symptoms were present in nearly half the sample, with anxiety affecting 47.4% and depression 41.5% of patients.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study design is cross-sectional, so it cannot prove that treating symptoms causes an improvement in spiritual well-being or physical function, only that they are related. The sample was recruited from outpatient clinics in Brazil, which may limit how well the results apply to other cultural or healthcare settings. Patients with delirium, dementia, or those in pain at the time of interview were excluded, so the findings do not apply to the most cognitively impaired or acutely distressed patients.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Higher Education Personnel Improvement Coordination (CAPES) in Brazil. No other conflicts of interest were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that improving spiritual well-being will directly reduce symptoms or improve physical function. This study shows a correlation between these factors, but it does not test an intervention, so a cause-and-effect relationship has not been established.