Assaf Mohammad, Ahmad Ali, Atwi Hanine, Habib Joseph, Haj Magda, Yehia Reham, Rahi Amal C, Majdalani Marianne
Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
BMC Palliat Care. 2025 Apr 11;24(1):101. doi: 10.1186/s12904-025-01734-1.
Spirituality (including religiosity) is a powerful concept in Middle Eastern populations for members of all religious affiliations. This study aims to assess the desire of cancer and critically ill adult inpatients to be asked about their spiritual history, the impact their religious and spiritual beliefs have on their medical decisions, and if such beliefs help them cope with their illnesses.
A questionnaire consisting of demographics and spirituality questions was developed and administered to 100 patients in a cross-sectional study. We performed psychometric analysis of the questionnaire through reliability and validity testing including construct validity using PCA with a Promax rotation to define components/constructs. Analysis was performed to study the association between patient characteristics and outcomes.
The scale was shown to be valid and reliable and can be used to assess spiritual needs in our population of critically ill and cancer patients. 45% of patients wanted to be asked about their spirituality, only 4% had discussed it with their medical team. Christian and Muslim patients were equally likely to want their spiritual history taken. Non-Lebanese patients were 4.8 times more equally likely to want their spiritual history taken and twice more likely to believe that their spirituality helps them cope with their illness compared to Lebanese patients (p < 0.05). Critical care patients as compared to cancer patients, and patients with a lower number of hospital visits during the past year, were significantly more likely to want to be asked about their spirituality (p < 0.05).
More structured training of healthcare personnel on addressing spirituality in the cultural context is needed. In our society, advocacy for patients with chronic illness embodies enquiring and addressing their spiritual needs through all the stages of their illness.
对于中东地区所有宗教信仰的人群而言，精神层面（包括宗教信仰）是一个重要概念。本研究旨在评估癌症患者及重症成年住院患者是否希望被询问其精神病史，其宗教和精神信仰对其医疗决策的影响，以及这些信仰是否有助于他们应对疾病。
在一项横断面研究中，设计了一份包含人口统计学和精神层面问题的问卷，并对100名患者进行了调查。我们通过可靠性和有效性测试对问卷进行了心理测量分析，包括使用主成分分析（PCA）和普罗麦克斯旋转来定义成分/结构的结构效度。进行分析以研究患者特征与结果之间的关联。
该量表显示有效且可靠，可用于评估我们重症和癌症患者群体的精神需求。45%的患者希望被询问其精神层面的情况，只有4%的患者与医疗团队讨论过此事。基督教和穆斯林患者希望记录其精神病史的可能性相同。与黎巴嫩患者相比，非黎巴嫩患者希望记录其精神病史的可能性高4.8倍，且认为其精神信仰有助于应对疾病的可能性高两倍（p < 0.05）。与癌症患者相比，重症监护患者以及过去一年住院次数较少的患者更有可能希望被询问其精神层面的情况（p < 0.05）。
需要对医护人员进行更系统的培训，以便在文化背景下处理精神层面的问题。在我们的社会中，对慢性病患者的支持包括在其疾病的各个阶段询问并满足他们的精神需求。
