The Influence of a Spirituality-Based Intervention on Quality of Life, Depression, and Anxiety in Community-Dwelling Adults With Cardiovascular Disease

Abstract

Purpose and Design: The specific aims of this pre-experimental pilot study were to determine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of an individualized spirituality-based intervention on health-related outcomes (quality-of-life [QOL], depression, and anxiety) in community-dwelling patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Methods: Self-reported QOL, depression, and anxiety data were provided by cardiac patients recruited from three community-based organizations, ( N = 27) at baseline and one month later. The Spirituality Scale developed by the principal investigator assessed study participants’ level of spirituality and scoring on the subscales activated one or more of three spirituality-based interventions. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to evaluate temporal changes. Findings: Patients who participated in the 1-month intervention demonstrated a significant modest increase in overall QOL. There was a trend toward lower depression scores but this was not significant. No significant changes were seen in anxiety scores. Content analysis of patients’ perceptions of feasibility supports the acceptability of the intervention. Conclusion: Results from this small pilot study provide preliminary evidence that the individualized spirituality-based intervention used in this study holds promise as an addition to traditional cardiac care and has the potential to improve QOL in community-dwelling adults with CVD.