The relationship between spiritual health and hope in multiple sclerosis patients: A descriptive-correlational study

Abstract

Background and Objectives:Spiritual health is the ultimate extremity of health which becomes the main objective of life by creating sense and meaning in life. In chronic disease such as Multiple Sclerosis, hope is one of the factors that can bring about positive consequences in order for the patient to cope with the disease consequences and improve his/ her ability to cope with the disease. In current study, the study of the role of hope in promotion of spiritual health is addressed. It is essential to study the relationship between spiritual health and hope in chronic patients due to the necessity of change in their lifestyle. Therefore, this study has been carried out with the objective of exploring the relationship between spiritual health and hope in MS patients in Iran.Materials and Methods:This descriptive-correlational study was performed on 103 subjects admitted by Red Crescent Clinic in Tabriz, a metropolitan city in the north-west of Iran. They all suffered from Multiple Sclerosis. Paloutzian and Ellison’s Questionnaire of Spiritual Health and Snyder’s Questionnaire of Hope was utilized to collect the data. Data analysis was performed on the basis of Independent T-Test and Mann-Whitney’s U-Test and correlation coefficient was calculated with the help of SPSS ver. 19.Findings:Mean and standard deviation of total score of spiritual health 92.39 ± 20.89 and mean and standard deviation of total score of hope 39.98 ± 7.97 were obtained and the results indicated that there is a significant relationship between spiritual health and hope in the patients (P < 0.001 and r = 0.538) and no significant relationship between spiritual health and hope could be seen regarding any demographic variables. Also, there was no significant relationship between existential health and demographic variables. There was no significant relationship between religious health and demographic variables excluding education.Conclusion:According to the results of this study, one can consider hope as a factor in relation with spiritual health that can have positive and useful effects on the improvement of MS patients. Therefore, hope promotion plans can be considered as effective in promoting spiritual health so as to care for the patients.