Spiritual wellbeing and its relationship with perceived stress, anxiety and depression in Iranian cardiac patients

Abstract

Aim This study was conducted to examine spiritual wellbeing and its relationship with perceived stress, anxiety and depression among cardiac patients. Methods The present descriptive study was conducted on 120 patients with cardiac diseases. The Perceived Stress Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Paloutzian and Ellison Spiritual Wellbeing Questionnaire were used for data collection. Results Of 120 patients, 79 were diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome, 30 were diagnosed with heart failure, and the rest were diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia (mostly atrial fibrillation). The mean scores for depression, anxiety and stress in the studied patients were 10.1, 9.9, and 19.5, respectively. The mean score of the total spiritual wellbeing was 86.2. Results showed an inverse and significant relationship between spiritual wellbeing with perceived stress (R2=−0.535, P=0.001), anxiety (R2=−0.389, P<0.001), and depression (R2=−0.388, P<0.001). Conclusions Improving cardiac patients’ spiritual wellbeing should be recognised as an essential part of holistic care and an effective strategy in reducing depression, anxiety and stress among cardiac patients.