Spiritual Well-Being and Associated Factors in End-Stage Renal Disease

Abstract

People with CKD depend on religion and spirituality to deal with their chronic illness, and those are essential means of coping for those living with chronic diseases. The present study aims to evaluate ESRD patients’ spiritual wellbeing undergoing hemodialysis treatment and to identify critical variables associated with the spiritual wellbeing of those patients. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted, in which 367 patients undergoing HD participated. Patients were randomly selected from six HD units in various geographical areas of Greece. Data were collected through an anonymous self-completed questionnaire consisting of two parts. The first part contained questions regarding demographic, social, and clinical information such as age, gender, marital status, and duration of dialysis comorbidities. The second part assessed the patients’ spiritual wellbeing with the use of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being Scale-12. Multivariate analysis was performed to extract predictors or determinants of spiritual wellbeing of hemodialysis patients. Results. From the total of the 367 participants, 228 (62.1%) were males and 139 (37.9%) were females, and the mean age was 61.80 ± 15.11. Spiritual wellbeing had a mean value of 30.55 (SD = 8.22), which means that patients had a satisfactory spiritual wellbeing level. Multivariate analysis revealed that place of residence, marital status, educational level, and comorbidities could predict spiritual wellbeing in ESRD patients. Conclusions. There is much evidence in the literature supporting the positive effect of spirituality, health (physical and mental), and quality of life. Integration of spiritual wellbeing evaluation and spiritual care in everyday practice as a part of clinical care can increase the quality of the provided care and improve health outcome for patients undergoing hemodialysis.