The effect of spiritual well-being on illness perception of lung cancer patients

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of spiritual well-being on the perception of people who have lung cancer. The study was conducted with 100 volunteered patients with living lung cancer who were monitored and treated at a university hospital in Turkey. Patient Identification Form, Spiritual Well-Being Scale and Illness Perception Scale were used for the data collection procedure. Using SPSS 21.0 program, independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA test were performed in statistical analyses. The probability value was considered significant as p < 0.05. The mean score of Spiritual Well Being (SWB) was found 28.48 & PLUSMN; 7.20. The findings were as follows: (1) the patients who stated that they comply with the drug treatment had a high score, and SWB scores were found to be lower in those who thought that the disease could not be cured. (2) there was a significant positive relationship among SWB and sub-dimensions of the illness perceptions; acute-chronic duration (p = .668), personal control (p = .811), treatment control (p = .682), emotional representation (p = 0.184) 3), as the SWB mean score increases, the scores in the illness perception section increase 4; however, when the SWB score increases, the cyclic time decreases. It was concluded that the spiritual well-being of people who have lung cancer positively affects the perception of the disease. It was further suggested that spiritual well-being should be evaluated and improved within holistic care in order to ensure patients perception of disease and compliance with treatment.