Faculty, Staff and Student Publications
Publication Date
4-11-2025
Journal
BMC Palliative Care
DOI
10.1186/s12904-025-01734-1
PMID
40217458
PMCID
PMC11987462
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
4-11-2025
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Abstract
Background: Spirituality (including religiosity) is a powerful concept in Middle Eastern populations for members of all religious affiliations. This study aims to assess the desire of cancer and critically ill adult inpatients to be asked about their spiritual history, the impact their religious and spiritual beliefs have on their medical decisions, and if such beliefs help them cope with their illnesses.
Methods: A questionnaire consisting of demographics and spirituality questions was developed and administered to 100 patients in a cross-sectional study. We performed psychometric analysis of the questionnaire through reliability and validity testing including construct validity using PCA with a Promax rotation to define components/constructs. Analysis was performed to study the association between patient characteristics and outcomes.
Results: The scale was shown to be valid and reliable and can be used to assess spiritual needs in our population of critically ill and cancer patients. 45% of patients wanted to be asked about their spirituality, only 4% had discussed it with their medical team. Christian and Muslim patients were equally likely to want their spiritual history taken. Non-Lebanese patients were 4.8 times more equally likely to want their spiritual history taken and twice more likely to believe that their spirituality helps them cope with their illness compared to Lebanese patients (p < 0.05). Critical care patients as compared to cancer patients, and patients with a lower number of hospital visits during the past year, were significantly more likely to want to be asked about their spirituality (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: More structured training of healthcare personnel on addressing spirituality in the cultural context is needed. In our society, advocacy for patients with chronic illness embodies enquiring and addressing their spiritual needs through all the stages of their illness.
Keywords
Humans, Cross-Sectional Studies, Male, Female, Lebanon, Middle Aged, Spirituality, Surveys and Questionnaires, Adult, Tertiary Care Centers, Aged, Psychometrics, Reproducibility of Results, Critical Illness, Neoplasms, Cancer, Spirituality, Holistic care, Critical care, Lebanon, Validity, Reliability
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
Assaf, Mohammad; Ahmad, Ali; Atwi, Hanine; et al., "Do Patients Want Their Spirituality Addressed During Their Hospital Journey; a Cross-Sectional Study at a Tertiary Care Center in Lebanon" (2025). Faculty, Staff and Student Publications. 4173.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/uthmed_docs/4173