Quality of life and religious/spiritual experiences of cancer patients in an emergency service

Abstract

Objective: Evaluate the quality of life, spiritual experiences in cancer patients and their correlation. Method: Cross-sectional study, carried out in the Emergency, from February to September 2017. Using the Medical Outcome Study 36 – Item Short-Form Health Survey for quality of life verification, with eight dimensions, the scores from 0 (worst condition) to 100 (best condition) and the Daily Scale of Spiritual Experience, with 16 items, scoring between 16 and 94 (lower scores reflect higher frequency of experience). The Spearman coefficient was used to correlate quality of life and spirituality. Results: 83 patients, mean age 58 years, male predominance. The most compromised quality of life’s dimension of was “physical aspect”. The Spiritual Experience Scale presented a mean of 51, with a negative correlation between the quality of life and spirituality. Conclusion: Spirituality is related to quality of life and should be considered in the care of cancer patients in the emergency.