Abstract
Social distancing and the priority given to COVID-19 patients in health services, which caused postponement of appointments and cancer treatment, may have triggered unprecedented levels of distress in cancer patients. The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of distress and the levels of spiritual well-being of people initiating chemotherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying the factors associated with distress, and determining if there is a relationship between distress and spiritual well-being. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 91 Brazilians. Data were collected by applying the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) and the Distress Thermometer and Problem List for Patients. The prevalence of distress was 59.5%, and the average score of spiritual well-being was 106.54 (±9.06). Emotional issues were the most reported by patients with distress. The Poisson regression showed that male sex (PR = 0.588; 95% CI 0.392–0.881), age (PR = 0.985; 95% CI 0.973–0.996), and spiritual well-being score were predictors of distress (PR = 0.971; 95% CI 0.946–0.996). These findings indicate that distress relief involves implementation of public health programs capable of integrating spiritual interventions into cancer care.
Highlights
Recent studies have pointed out different negative impacts of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19), such as a marked increase in levels of psychological distress in the population in general [1] and increases in the mortality of patients with cancer [2]
Despite the urgency of treatment for extending patient survival, many chemotherapy procedures have been delayed in an attempt to manage COVID-19 cases, creating a dilemma for cancer care in epicenters of the disease, including Brazil, where more than 600,000 people have died of SARS-CoV2 [3,4]
Contrary to the conclusions of other studies [75,76,77,78], our results suggest that adverse prognostic factors do not explain psychological distress better than variables such as age, sex, and scores on the EWB, which can be taken as a sign of good spiritual health
Summary
(COVID-19), such as a marked increase in levels of psychological distress in the population in general [1] and increases in the mortality of patients with cancer [2]. Despite the urgency of treatment for extending patient survival, many chemotherapy procedures have been delayed in an attempt to manage COVID-19 cases, creating a dilemma for cancer care in epicenters of the disease, including Brazil, where more than 600,000 people have died of SARS-CoV2 [3,4]. Chemotherapy has increasingly been administered as both outpatient and inpatient treatment. It differs from radiotherapy and surgery because it is a systemic, intense, and cyclic treatment modality whose completion takes a long time and requires frequent hospitalizations. Despite its importance in healing some types of neoplasia, controlling symptoms, and increasing survival, its adverse effects can affect patients’ psychological and spiritual states [6,7,8,9]
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