Abstract
The stress of living with a terminal disease has a negative impact on the mental health of hemodialysis (HD) patients. Spirituality is a potential coping mechanism for stressful experiences. Studies on the relationship between spirituality and mental health among HD patients are scarce. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between mental health and spiritual well-being among HD patients. Cross-sectional observational study on hemodialysis patients at a single center in Brazil, between January and December 2011. Mental health was assessed using the General Health Questionnaire and spiritual wellbeing was assessed using the Spiritual Wellbeing Scale; 150 HD patients participated in the study. A significant correlation was found between mental health and spiritual wellbeing (P = 0.001). Spiritual wellbeing was the strongest predictor of mental health, psychological distress, sleep disturbance and psychosomatic complaints. Poor mental health was associated with lower spiritual wellbeing. This has important implications for delivery of palliative care to HD patients.
Highlights
Psychiatric disorders are common among hemodialysis (HD) patients and are associated with increased morbidity and mortality, and reduced quality of life.[1]
We found that high total General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) scores were associated with lower household income (P = 0.02); psychological stress was associated with younger age (P = 0.02) and with the female gender (P = 0.03); death ideation, with alcohol drinking (P = 0.03); high performance anxiety, with shorter length of time on HD (P = 0.005); and sleep disturbance, with longer length of time on HD (P = 0.01)
Our results showed that there was an association between poor mental health and lower household income
Summary
Psychiatric disorders are common among hemodialysis (HD) patients and are associated with increased morbidity and mortality, and reduced quality of life.[1] Spirituality is an important factor in the quality of life of HD patients.[2] According to Koenig et al.,[3] spirituality is a personal quest to understand aspects of life, its meaning and the relationship with the sacred, which may or may not involve religious practices or formation of religious groups. Spirituality is a potential resource in relation to mental health and is a coping mechanism for stressful experiences.[4]. The relationship between spirituality and health is a relevant factor to be assessed among HD patients. There are few studies in the literature correlating spirituality and mental health in this population
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