The relationship between spiritual well-being, mental health, and quality of life in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Cancer is the second cause of death after cardiovascular diseases in the world. Each year, more than 70,000 new cases of cancer and 30,000 deaths from cancer have been recorded in Iran. Cancer also reduces quality of life (QoL) by creating negative physical and mental symptoms. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mental health, spiritual well-being and QoL among cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. METHOD: About 208 adults suffering from cancer and receiving chemotherapy in Shiraz hospitals were entered in the study and they were asked to complete the Paloutzian and Ellison Spiritual Well-being Questionnaire, and Goranowski Mental Health, Quality of Life and Excitement Questionnaire. For data analysis, descriptive statistics including mean (standard deviation) and frequency (percentages) were used in table and chart format, moreover Spearman correlation tests were also used. RESULTS: The results of the study revealed that there was a positive and significant correlation between mental health and QoL (P = 0.001) in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. The results of the study revealed that there was a positive and significant correlation between spiritual well-being and mental health (P = 0.001) and QoL (P = 0.01) in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, but there was a negative and significant Correlation between spiritual well-being and negative emotions (P = 0.47). On the other hand, there was a negative and significant correlation between mental health (P = 0.026) and QoL (P = 0.019) and negative emotions respectively. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that there was a positive and significant relationship between spiritual well-being, mental health, and QoL in cancer patients.