Impact of spiritual interventions in individuals with cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: This meta-analysis aimed to determine how spiritual interventions affect cancer patients' physical, emotional, and spiritual outcomes and quality of life. METHODS: Between 2012 and May 2024, the Cochrane Library, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science were searched considering the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses checklist. Twenty-six randomized controlled trials were included, and 16 were synthesized in the meta-analysis. Bias risk was evaluated using the Cochrane risk-of-bias methodology for randomized studies. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations tool was employed for evidence certainty. Heterogeneity was expressed through I2 and Q statistics. Hedge's g was calculated for effect sizes. Egger's and Kendall's Tau were used for publication bias. RESULTS: Spiritual interventions yielded beneficial effects on fatigue (Hedges's g = 0.900, p < 0.001) and pain (Hedges's g = 0.670, p < 0.001) but not for overall symptom burden (Hedges's g = 0.208, p = 0.176). Significant effects were found for anxiety (Hedges's g = 0.301, p < 0.001), depression (Hedges's g = 0.175, p = 0.016), and psychological distress (Hedges's g = 0.178, p = 0.024), except for hopelessness (Hedges's g = 0.144, p = 0.091). Spiritual interventions enhanced faith (Hedges's g = 0.232, p = 0.035), the meaning of life (Hedges's g = 0.259, p = 0.002), spiritual well-being (Hedges's g = 0.268, p < 0.001), and quality of life (Hedges's g = 245, p < 0.001). Moderator analysis pointed out that cancer stage, total duration, delivery format, providers' qualification, content, and conceptual base of spiritual interventions significantly affect physical, emotional, and spiritual outcomes and quality of life. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis highlighted the benefits of spiritual interventions with varying effect sizes on patients' outcomes, as well as quality of life in cancer, and shed on how to incorporate these approaches into clinical practice.

Correlation between symptom status, health perception, and spiritual well-being in heart failure patients: A structural equation modeling approach.

AIM: To explore predictors of spiritual well-being behaviors among heart failure patients based on Wilson and Cleary's conceptual model of health-related quality of life and to clarify the interrelationships among these variables. DESIGN: A descriptive and correlational study design was used. METHODS: This study included 202 heart failure patients treated between October 2020 and July 2021. Data were collected using the Symptom Status Questionnaire-Heart Failure, Perception of Health Scale, and Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being Scale. Descriptive analysis, correlation, and structural equation modeling were performed. RESULTS: Characteristic factors positively affected spiritual well-being both directly (ß = 0.19, p = 0.007) and indirectly (ß = 0.19; CI (0.106; 0.311)). The direct relationship between health perception and spiritual well-being was significant (ß = 0.83, p < 0.05). Symptom status acted as an essential mediator between model variables and spiritual well-being (ß = -0.28; CI (-0.449; -0.133)). Comorbidity and symptom status also influence spiritual well-being through health perceptions. These variables explain 77% of the variance in spiritual well-being. CONCLUSION: The modified structural equation modeling based on Wilson and Cleary's conceptual model fits well in predicting spiritual well-being in patients with heart failure. Spiritual well-being was reported to be poor, and changes in spiritual well-being were predicted by age, educational level, marital status, comorbidity, symptom status, and health perception. The results can be applied to patients with heart failure and may serve as a guide for assessment and interventions for improving spiritual well-being. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study mainly concludes that symptom status and perceived health status affect spiritual well-being in heart failure patients. Symptom relief and improvement in perceived health status interventions may help enhance spiritual well-being in this population. Future studies are needed to investigate the different predictor's effects on spiritual well-being and examine whether symptom management and health status-enhancing interventions result in improved spiritual well-being in the heart failure population. REPORTING METHOD: This study was reported following the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist for cross-sectional studies. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient or public contribution.

Turkish Validity and Reliability of the Self-care of Hypertension Inventory (SC-HI) among Older Adults.

PURPOSE: To assess the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Self-care of Hypertension Inventory (SC-HI) among older adults with hypertension. DESIGN: This was a methodological study. METHODS: The study sample enrolled 176 older adults. The study carried out preliminary psychometric analyses. FINDINGS: Item-level content validity index ranged between 0.87 to 1.0, and the index of content validity was 0.98. The Cronbach's α for the total scale was 0.84. CONCLUSION: The cross-cultural adaptation of SC-HI has been realized successfully in Turkish. CLINICAL EVIDENCE: Health care providers may utilize the scale to evaluate "older individuals" hypertension self-care abilities.

Prevention of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy with classical massage in breast cancer patients receiving paclitaxel: An assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE: This assessor-blinded, prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial aimed at investigating the effect of classical massage on chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy and the quality of life (QOL) in breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant paclitaxel. METHODS: A total of 40 female breast cancer patients were randomly allocated to the classical massage group (CMG) or the control group (CG). Classical massage was applied to the patients in the CMG before each paclitaxel infusion. The CG received only usual care. Presence of peripheral neuropathic pain and QOL were assessed at baseline and weeks 4, 8, 12, and 16. Nerve conduction studies (NCS) findings were also recorded at baseline and week 12. RESULTS: The peripheral neuropathic pain was lower in the CMG compared to the CG at week 12 (p < 0.05). The sensory and motor sub-scale scores of the QOL measure showed statistically significant differences over time in favor of the CMG (p < 0.05). Sensory action potential amplitude of the median nerve was significantly higher and the tibial nerve latency was significantly shorter in the CMG compared to the CG at week 12. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested that classical massage successfully prevented chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathic pain, improved the QOL, and showed beneficial effects on the NCS findings.

Family caregiving for persons with heart failure at the intersection of heart failure and palliative care: a state-of-the-science review.

Many of the 23 million individuals with heart failure (HF) worldwide receive daily, unpaid support from a family member or friend. Although HF and palliative care practice guidelines stipulate that support be provided to family caregivers, the evidence base to guide care for this population has not been comprehensively assessed. In order to appraise the state-of-the-science of HF family caregiving and recommend areas for future research, the aims of this review were to summarize (1) how caregivers influence patients, (2) the consequences of HF for caregivers, and (3) interventions directed at HF caregivers. We reviewed all literature to December 2015 in PubMed and CINAHL using the search terms "heart failure" AND "caregiver." Inclusion criteria dictated that studies report original research of HF family caregiving. Articles focused on children or instrument development or aggregated HF with other illnesses were excluded. We identified 120 studies, representing 5700 caregivers. Research on this population indicates that (1) caregiving situations vary widely with equally wide-ranging tasks for patients to help facilitate their health behaviors, psychological health and relationships, and quality of life (QoL); (2) caregivers have numerous unmet needs that fluctuate with patients' unpredictable medical status, are felt to be ignored by the formal healthcare system, and can lead to distress, burden, and reduced QoL; and (3) relatively few interventions have been developed and tested that effectively support HF family caregivers. We provide recommendations to progress the science forward in each of these areas that moves beyond descriptive work to intervention development and clinical trials testing.