Spirituality in the uncertainty of illness: the perspective of oncology patients.
Roberto Firpo de Almeida Filho, Maria Cristina Soares Figueiredo Trezza, Isabel Comassetto and 4 others
PMID 37820153WHAT IT FOUND
All 11 cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy said religious or spiritual beliefs brought comfort; three said beliefs could influence medical decisions.
This is patients' perspective, not evidence that spiritual care works.
Key findings
01All participants reported religious or spiritual beliefs as a source of comfort.
02Three participants said religious or spiritual beliefs could influence medical decisions, while others said they would follow doctors' recommendations and continue treatment.
03Uncertainty scores ranged from 74 to 118 on a scale from 30 to 150, and all 11 participants were classified as having intermediate uncertainty.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 11 patients were interviewed at a single outpatient chemotherapy centre, so the findings may not apply to other cancer patients or settings. The sample included only one man, and breast cancer was common among women, so men and other cancer types are not well represented. Data were collected only in the chemotherapy outpatient clinic because of the pandemic, not in wards or at home. The study was qualitative, so it describes patients' meanings and cannot show that spiritual care changes uncertainty, treatment decisions or outcomes. Participants were not selected by cancer type, stage, sex, race or religion, and the paper notes questions that could not be answered because of lack of reliable data. The uncertainty score was an adapted Mishel scale, and all participants were intermediate, so the study does not show how spiritual beliefs affected that score.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that spiritual care reduces uncertainty or improves cancer outcomes. This was a qualitative interview study of 11 patients, and it reports what patients said about comfort and decisions, not a tested intervention.