BACKGROUND: The large body of empirical research suggesting that patients' spiritual and existential experiences influence the disease process has raised the need for health care professionals to understand the complexity of patients' spiritual pain and distress. OBJECTIVE: The current study explores the multidimensional nature of spiritual pain, in patients with end-stage cancer, in relation to physical pain, symptom severity, and emotional distress. DESIGN/MEASUREMENTS: The study combines a quantitative evaluation of participants' intensity of spiritual pain, physical pain, depression, and intensity of illness, with a qualitative focus on the nature of patients' spiritual pain and the kinds of interventions patients believed would ameliorate their spiritual pain. SETTING/ SUBJECTS: Fifty-seven patients with advanced stage cancer in a palliative care hospital were interviewed by chaplains. RESULTS: Overall, 96% of the patients reported experiencing spiritual pain, but they expressed it in different ways: (1) as an intrapsychic conflict, (2) as interpersonal loss or conflict, or (3) in relation to the divine. Intensity of spiritual pain was correlated with depression (r = 0.43, p < 0.001), but not physical pain or severity of illness. The intensity of spiritual pain did not vary by age, gender, disease course or religious affiliation. CONCLUSIONS: Given both the universality of spiritual pain and the multifaceted nature of pain, we propose that when patients report the experience of pain, more consideration be given to the complexity of the phenomena and that spiritual pain be considered a contributing factor. The authors maintain that spiritual pain left unaddressed both impedes recovery and contributes to the overall suffering of the patient.
BACKGROUND: The large body of empirical research suggesting that patients' spiritual and existential experiences influence the disease process has raised the need for health care professionals to understand the complexity of patients' spiritual pain and distress. OBJECTIVE: The current study explores the multidimensional nature of spiritual pain, in patients with end-stage cancer, in relation to physical pain, symptom severity, and emotional distress. DESIGN/MEASUREMENTS: The study combines a quantitative evaluation of participants' intensity of spiritual pain, physical pain, depression, and intensity of illness, with a qualitative focus on the nature of patients' spiritual pain and the kinds of interventions patients believed would ameliorate their spiritual pain. SETTING/ SUBJECTS: Fifty-seven patients with advanced stage cancer in a palliative care hospital were interviewed by chaplains. RESULTS: Overall, 96% of the patients reported experiencing spiritual pain, but they expressed it in different ways: (1) as an intrapsychic conflict, (2) as interpersonal loss or conflict, or (3) in relation to the divine. Intensity of spiritual pain was correlated with depression (r = 0.43, p < 0.001), but not physical pain or severity of illness. The intensity of spiritual pain did not vary by age, gender, disease course or religious affiliation. CONCLUSIONS: Given both the universality of spiritual pain and the multifaceted nature of pain, we propose that when patients report the experience of pain, more consideration be given to the complexity of the phenomena and that spiritual pain be considered a contributing factor. The authors maintain that spiritual pain left unaddressed both impedes recovery and contributes to the overall suffering of the patient.
Authors: Dalton Bertolim Précoma; Gláucia Maria Moraes de Oliveira; Antonio Felipe Simão; Oscar Pereira Dutra; Otávio Rizzi Coelho; Maria Cristina de Oliveira Izar; Rui Manuel Dos Santos Póvoa; Isabela de Carlos Back Giuliano; Aristóteles Comte de Alencar Filho; Carlos Alberto Machado; Carlos Scherr; Francisco Antonio Helfenstein Fonseca; Raul Dias Dos Santos Filho; Tales de Carvalho; Álvaro Avezum; Roberto Esporcatte; Bruno Ramos Nascimento; David de Pádua Brasil; Gabriel Porto Soares; Paolo Blanco Villela; Roberto Muniz Ferreira; Wolney de Andrade Martins; Andrei C Sposito; Bruno Halpern; José Francisco Kerr Saraiva; Luiz Sergio Fernandes Carvalho; Marcos Antônio Tambascia; Otávio Rizzi Coelho-Filho; Adriana Bertolami; Harry Correa Filho; Hermes Toros Xavier; José Rocha Faria-Neto; Marcelo Chiara Bertolami; Viviane Zorzanelli Rocha Giraldez; Andrea Araújo Brandão; Audes Diógenes de Magalhães Feitosa; Celso Amodeo; Dilma do Socorro Moraes de Souza; Eduardo Costa Duarte Barbosa; Marcus Vinícius Bolívar Malachias; Weimar Kunz Sebba Barroso de Souza; Fernando Augusto Alves da Costa; Ivan Romero Rivera; Lucia Campos Pellanda; Maria Alayde Mendonça da Silva; Aloyzio Cechella Achutti; André Ribeiro Langowiski; Carla Janice Baister Lantieri; Jaqueline Ribeiro Scholz; Silvia Maria Cury Ismael; José Carlos Aidar Ayoub; Luiz César Nazário Scala; Mario Fritsch Neves; Paulo Cesar Brandão Veiga Jardim; Sandra Cristina Pereira Costa Fuchs; Thiago de Souza Veiga Jardim; Emilio Hideyuki Moriguchi; Jamil Cherem Schneider; Marcelo Heitor Vieira Assad; Sergio Emanuel Kaiser; Ana Maria Lottenberg; Carlos Daniel Magnoni; Marcio Hiroshi Miname; Roberta Soares Lara; Artur Haddad Herdy; Cláudio Gil Soares de Araújo; Mauricio Milani; Miguel Morita Fernandes da Silva; Ricardo Stein; Fernando Antonio Lucchese; Fernando Nobre; Hermilo Borba Griz; Lucélia Batista Neves Cunha Magalhães; Mario Henrique Elesbão de Borba; Mauro Ricardo Nunes Pontes; Ricardo Mourilhe-Rocha Journal: Arq Bras Cardiol Date: 2019-11-04 Impact factor: 2.000
Authors: Stephen D W King; George Fitchett; Patricia E Murphy; Kenneth I Pargament; David A Harrison; Elizabeth Trice Loggers Journal: Support Care Cancer Date: 2016-10-06 Impact factor: 3.603
Authors: Wendy G Lichtenthal; Matthew Nilsson; Baohui Zhang; Elizabeth D Trice; David W Kissane; William Breitbart; Holly G Prigerson Journal: Psychooncology Date: 2009-01 Impact factor: 3.894
Authors: Kevin J Flannelly; Linda L Emanuel; George F Handzo; Kathleen Galek; Nava R Silton; Melissa Carlson Journal: BMC Palliat Care Date: 2012-07-02 Impact factor: 3.234