The Relation between Awareness of Cancer Diagnosis and Spiritual Health among Cancer Patients

Disclosure of cancer diagnosis is one the main challenges in caring of patients with cancer since it may have negative effects on the spiritual health of patients. No study has ever been performed in Iran to investigate the relationship between awareness of cancer diagnosis and spiritual health in cancer patients. Therefore, the present study aimed to review the effects of awareness of cancer on spiritual health in patients with cancer. This was a descriptive-comparative study conducted in Shahid Ghazi Tabatabaei University Hospital in 2009. The subjects included 150 patients aware of their cancer diagnosis and 150 unaware patients. The patients were selected through convenient sampling method. Using a questionnaire, the patient's spiritual health was assessed. Data analysis was conducted in SPSS17 using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed the mean (SD) of spiritual health among aware and unaware patients to be 75.1 (3.8) and 75.4 (3.9), respectively. Statistically, there was no significant difference between the spiritual health of the two groups (p = 0.96). These findings showed that awareness of cancer diagnosis had no effects on spiritual health of patients. It is not surprising considering Iranian culture. However, confirmation of this finding requires further studies.