The effect of spiritual well-being on symptoms experienced in patients receiving chemotherapy

The aim of this descriptive study was to evaluate the effect of spiritual well-being on symptoms experienced in patients receiving chemotherapy. 121 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria participated in the study, which was carried out at the chemotherapy unit of the Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University Training and Research Hospital between November 2022 and February 2023. Patient introduction form, Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS), and three-factor spiritual well-being scale were used to collect research data. Independent sample t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, One-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis test, Pearson and Spearman correlation analysis, and Simple Linear Regression Analysis were used to evaluate the data. 50.4% of the participants were women, 43.0% were primary school graduates, and the mean age was 59.34±12.26. It was determined that 28.9% of the individuals had breast cancer, 14.0% had lung cancer, 43.0% were on stage 3 cancer, and the mean diagnosis time was 17.87±26.65 months. The patients' three-factor spiritual well-being scale total mean score was found to be 138.10 ± 6.97, and the Memorial symptom assessment scale total score was 0.78 ± 0.54. It was found that the most common symptoms experienced by the patients were fatigue or loss of energy (75.2%), dry mouth (61.2%), weight loss (52.1%) and loss of appetite (50.4%), respectively. It was identified that there was a significant negative relationship (r=-0.200, p<0.05) between the total score of the three-factor spiritual well-being scale and the total score of the Memorial symptom assessment scale. It was determined that the spiritual well-being of the patients significantly affected the symptoms they experienced. As a result, it was identified that as the spiritual well-being of patients receiving chemotherapy increased, the symptoms they experienced decreased.