Religious/spiritual experiences, quality of life and satisfaction with life of hospitalized octogenarians

Abstract

Objectives: to assess quality of life (QoL) and satisfaction with life (SWL) indices and verify whether the frequency of religious and spiritual experiences is associated with QoL and SWL in hospitalized octogenarians. Method: this is a cross-sectional study, with 128 octogenarians. World Health Organization QoL instruments and Scales applied: Daily Spiritual Experience (DSES) and Satisfaction With Life (SWLS). Results: more committed domains related to QoL and SWL: autonomy and physical capacity. The higher the score in DSES, the higher the scores in the psychological domains and past, present, and future QoL activities. The higher the score in DSES, the higher the score in the social involvement aspect. Conclusion: the results of this study showed that the higher frequency of religious and spiritual experiences of hospitalized elderly people was associated with better QoL and SWL. It is emphasized that religious and spiritual experiences should be explored in the hospital therapeutic context.