Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Sep 19, 2023; 13(9): 675-684
Published online Sep 19, 2023. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v13.i9.675
Factors influencing spiritual wellbeing among pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patients receiving chemotherapy
Ling-Ling Wei, Shu-Ting Zhang, Yu Liao, Yue Zhang, Yan Yu, Na Mi
Ling-Ling Wei, Shu-Ting Zhang, Yu Liao, Yue Zhang, Yan Yu, Na Mi, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University, Chongqing 400037, China
Author contributions: Wei LL, Zhang ST contributed to the conception and design of the study; Wei LL and Zhang ST contributed equally to this work as joint first authors; Mi N contributed to the administrative support; Liao Y contributed to the provision of study materials or patients; Zhang ST, Liao Y, Zhang Y, Yu Y collected and analyzed the data; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by Humanities and Social Science Foundation Project of Army Military Medical University, No. 2021XRW09.
Institutional review board statement: The study procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University (2021- Research No.161-01).
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement- checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement- checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Na Mi, BSc, Associate Chief Nurse, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University, Xinqiao Street, Chongqing 400037, China. mina_email@163.com
Received: May 24, 2023
Peer-review started: May 24, 2023
First decision: June 12, 2023
Revised: June 25, 2023
Accepted: August 2, 2023
Article in press: August 2, 2023
Published online: September 19, 2023
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Identifying the core factors influencing spiritual wellbeing of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients undergoing chemotherapy and formulating individualized spiritual care regimens can improve quality of life among this patient group. However, there have only been a few small studies of the spiritual wellbeing of PDAC patients undergoing chemotherapy. The core factors influencing spiritual wellbeing in this clinical population are still unclear. Therefore, this study was designed to identify factors influencing the spiritual wellbeing of PDAC patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Research motivation

This study was designed to investigated the spiritual wellbeing status and identify factors influencing the spiritual wellbeing of PDAC patients undergoing chemotherapy. To draw attention to the spiritual health of patients with pancreatic cancer undergoing chemotherapy and formulate individualized spiritual care regimens.

Research objectives

This study was designed to investigated the spiritual wellbeing status and identify factors influencing the spiritual wellbeing of PDAC patients undergoing chemotherapy. This study found that effective measures to mitigate anxiety and increase quality-of-life-related role functioning, emotional guidance, cognition of disease, social function, and life education may enhance spiritual wellbeing. Individualized spiritual care regimens can be formulated through life care, behavioral therapy, mindfulness meditation, cognitive interview, and life review among other strategies.

Research methods

The research method of this study was a questionnaire survey. Prior to the questionnaire survey, all investigators received standardized training to guarantee the objectivity and accuracy of data collection. The questionnaire included a general information questionnaire, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being 12 Item Scale, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 and Zung’s Self-rating Anxiety Scale. All data were analyzed using SPSS version 25.0. P < 0.05 (two-tailed) was considered statistically significant for all tests.

Research results

This study investigated the spiritual wellbeing of Chinese patients with PDAC undergoing chemotherapy and analyzed its influencing factors for the first time. This study found that individualized spiritual care regimens can be formulated through life care, behavioral therapy, mindfulness meditation, cognitive interview, and life review among other strategies. This study had limitations. Most patients were from southwestern China (Chongqing), so this may not be a nationally representative sample. Future studies will expand the sample size and evaluate the effects of specific religious beliefs on the spiritual wellbeing of PDAC patients receiving chemotherapy.

Research conclusions

Spiritual wellbeing of PDAC patients treated with chemotherapy was in the mid-range, and individual differences in spiritual wellbeing related to demographics and clinical status. Anxiety and symptom severity markedly disrupted the spiritual wellbeing of PDAC patients undergoing chemotherapy, whereas a sustained functional role and good global health status related to quality of life promoted spiritual wellbeing. This study provides a theoretical basis for formulating individualized spiritual care regimens.

Research perspectives

Future studies will expand the sample size and evaluate the effects of specific religious beliefs on the spiritual wellbeing of PDAC patients receiving chemotherapy.