Spiritual Wellbeing of Cancer Patients: What Health-Related Factors Matter?

This study aimed to determine the predictors of spiritual wellbeing of non-terminal stage cancer patients hospitalized in oncology units in Lithuania. An exploratory cross-sectional study design was employed. During structured face-to-face interviews, 226 cancer patients hospitalized in oncology units responded about their spiritual wellbeing, perception of happiness, satisfaction with life, pain intensity, levels of education and physical functioning, and length of inpatient stay. A set of standardized tools were used: spiritual wellbeing scale SHALOM, brief multidimensional life satisfaction scale, Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, Barthel Index questionnaire, and verbal pain intensity scale. Additionally, social- and health-related factors were included in data analyses. Structural equation modeling was adapted for a comprehensive assessment of the mediating effect of spiritual wellbeing on the relationship between different health- and value-related factors. The overall fit of the structural model was generally good: χ_(29)^2 = 66.94 ( χ 2 /d f = 2.31), CFI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.08, and SRMR = 0.06. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Statistics) version 24.0 and Mplus version 8.2. Level of happiness, life satisfaction, and spiritual wellbeing scored in the moderate upper range. The communal domain of spiritual wellbeing rated with the highest mean score and transcendental domain with the lowest score. Education ( b = 0.208, p = 0.004), physical functioning ( b = 0.171, p = 0.025), and hospital duration ( b = − 0.240, p = 0.001) were significant predictors of spiritual wellbeing. Happiness and life satisfaction were negatively influenced by pain intensity, which ranged from mild to moderate. Levels of education, physical functioning, and length of hospital stay predict spiritual wellbeing of non-terminally ill cancer patients. Happiness, as well as life satisfaction, was negatively predicted by pain intensity but had no direct influence on spiritual wellbeing of cancer patients. Spiritual wellbeing positively influences emotional wellbeing (happiness and life satisfaction), and its influence is stronger than the negative influence of physical pain has on emotional wellbeing.