Relationship between Spiritual Intelligence and Medical- Demographic Characteristics in Community-dwelling Elderly

Background and

Spiritual intelligence includes the mental flexibility to make adjustments, deal with problems, and respond appropriately to life events. This study aimed to determine the relationship between spiritual intelligence and demographic characteristics in community-dwelling elderly.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 200 elderly living in Sari, Iran. The inclusion criteria for participation in the study were being 60 years or older, the ability to be interviewed and the consent to be involved. To collect the data demographic features were recorded and Spiritual Intelligence Scale (consisting 83 standard questions) was used. An average score of less than 4.30 indicated a low level of spiritual intelligence, while higher scores suggested that the subject’s spiritual intelligence level was high. The data was analyzed using ANOVA, Tukey HSD and t-test in SPSS.

The minimum score for spiritual intelligence in elderly subjects was 2.33 and the maximum was 5.27, with a mean of 4.09±0.48. The subjects except those aged over 70 years-of-age needed to strengthen their spiritual intelligence. Demographic characteristics showed a significant relationship between age (P=0.01), marital status (P=0.04), and family composition (P=0.05) and spiritual intelligence. However, the relationship between spiritual intelligence and other variables were not significant. The elderly aged over 70 years, who were married and those who lived with their wives and children, had high spiritual intelligence.

In this study elderly with a mean spiritual intelligence score of 4.09 could benefit from strengthening their spiritual intelligence. It seems that improving spiritual intelligence may help the elderly to attain greater stability in their lives, become more adaptable, and maintain a more balanced mood, all of which would result in a better quality of life.