Spiritual well-being, symptoms and performance of patients under palliative care

OBJECTIVES: to assess the relationship between spiritual well-being, symptoms and performance of patients under palliative care. METHODS: this is a descriptive correlational study, conducted with 135 patients seen in palliative care outpatient clinics. Karnofsky Performance Status Scale, Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale, Spirituality Scale and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were used. Data were submitted to descriptive statistical analysis and Spearman’s correlation. RESULTS: among participants, 68.2% were cancer patients. The most prevalent symptoms were changes in well-being (65.2%), anxiety (63.7%), sadness (63%) and fatigue (63%). Sadness, dyspnea, sleepiness, anxiety and depression presented weak to moderate correlation with spiritual well-being. Symptom overload showed weak negative correlation with performance. CONCLUSIONS: symptom intensification was correlated with worsening in spiritual well-being perception. The reduction in performance was related to increased number of symptoms, especially depression and anxiety.