نشریه اسلام و سلامت
سال ششم شماره 2 (پیاپی 14، پاییز و زمستان 1400)

Recently, coping styles based on religious teachings have been studied as components of maintaining the mental health of patients and various researchers have sought to investigate the relationship between components related to health and adaptation to adversity and coping styles. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between life attitudes and adaptation to the disease with Islamic coping styles in patients with breast cancer.

The statistical population of this descriptive-correlational study was all female patients with breast cancer referred to Imam Reza (AS) Oncology and Radiotherapy Clinic in Mashhad in 2021. Totally, 100 patients were selected based on inclusion criteria via a purposive method. The study tools were Life Regard Index (LRI), Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer (Mini-MAC) scale and Islamic Coping Style Questionnaire (ICSQ), and the data were analyzed using regression analysis and Pearson correlation.

There was a direct significant relationship between attitude towards life and adaptation to disease with the Islamic coping style. The standard deviation (SD) of attitude towards life created a positive change in the standard deviation of the Islamic coping style by 0.12. The SD of attitude towards life and adaptation to the disease changed by 0.17 in the SD of Islamic coping style. Moreover, the share of attitudes towards life in this regard was higher (0.001).

In general, it can be concluded that the Islamic coping style can predict the attitude towards life and adaptation to the disease and thus help maintain their mental health. Accordingly, it is suggested to pay attention to the Islamic coping style regarding the promotion of patients' mental health.

Cardiovascular diseases have been identified as the leading cause of disability and death in the world. Many patients who do not respond to medical interventions experience heart surgery, which can be a major event in a person's life and can cause physical and mental dysfunction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a multidimensional spiritual intervention on stress and heart rate variability (HRV) after bypass surgery in patients with coronary artery disease.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted with a control group and a pre-test-post-test design with one-month and three-month follow-ups. The statistical population of this study was patients who had coronary artery bypass graft surgery and were referred to the Rehabilitation Center of Tehran Heart Hospital. Totally, 30 patients were selected using the convenience sampling method and randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The instrument of this study was the evaluation of physiological psychological coordination of heart rate through heart monitoring and the “Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale” (DASS-21). The independent variable (multidimensional spiritual intervention) was run in the experimental group during 10 sessions of 90 minutes. The data were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA and SPSS.

There was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the mean scales of pre-test, post-test and follow-up, stress (F=251.191, p<0.001) and HRV (F=209.896, p<0.001). Moreover, the importance of the interaction in the HRV between the stages and experimental group indicated that the mean of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group in the post-test stages and one-month and three-month follow-up, but it was less in the experimental group than in the control group in terms of other variables.

In fact, reducing negative emotions following stress inoculation training plays an important role in preventing the more serious complications of heart disease, and interventions based on the results of the present study are recommended for heart patients.

Over the past two decades, religious behaviors have been studied as influential components in promoting lifestyle and mental health, and various researchers have attempted to identify the behaviors that have the greatest impact on lifestyle and mental health components. One of these religious practices that has been considered in Islam is holding congregational prayer. The aim of the present study was to explain the phenomenology of the effects and consequences of congregational prayer and its impact on the lifestyle and mental health of students, staff, and faculty members of Farhangian University in Ardabil Province.

This applied and phenomenological study was to investigate the psycho-social effects and consequences of holding congregational prayer. To achieve theoretical saturation, 24 specialized and knowledgeable individuals were interviewed using a purposive, criterion-based sample. The data collection instruments were semi-structured interviews and scientific documents. To analyze the data, the method of thematic analysis was performed using open, axial and selective coding in MAXQDA2018 software. The validity of the research findings was ensured through the methods of member review, peer review, and participatory research. To measure the reliability of the codings, the methods of retesting and internal agreement were used, which reached 80% and 79%, respectively. Since these values were higher than 70%, the reliability of the system was confirmed.

The results showed that the number of initial concepts obtained from the interviews was 73 concepts, which were divided into three main themes including 1) the individual theme (with the subthemes of closeness to God, commitment to Islamic ethics and human excellence), 2) the social and family theme (with the subthemes of social cohesion, increasing spirituality and strengthening social affection), and 3) the psychological theme (with the subthemes of reducing psycho-physical tension, mental health, and moral virtue).

Based on the results, for the practical application of the effects of prayer in various aspects of life in society, it is necessary to have the serious will of the influential factors in this field.

Belief in the existence of God and His oversight of all aspects of human life can reduce the level of anxiety in any critical situation. Cancer is one of the most destructive events in life. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is an empathetic religious and spiritual approach that can have a significant effect on chronic pain and anxiety disorders and can even be useful in the psychological treatment of cancer patients. Adaptation methods based on religion and spirituality modulate emotions and can help patients manage their anxiety and increase their self-esteem. The aim of this study was to investigate previous studies on the effect of prayer and religious beliefs in the psychosocial care of cancer patients.

In the present review study, the keywords “cancer”, “religion”, “spiritual well-being”, “ethics”, “adaptation”, and “coping” were searched in the SID, Magiran, Iran Medex, and PubMed databases and in the Google Scholar search engine, and 21 articles were included in the study.

The ACT is a new method for the psychological treatment of cancer patients.

It is concluded that religion and prayer give incurable patients hope and strength to fight for their lives, and that this, in addition to medical or surgical interventions, can be considered supportive and palliative care in these cases. However, care must be taken that misinterpretation of the effect of prayer does not lead to neglect follow-up of therapeutic interventions in cancer patients.

Now, more than two years after the onset of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the relative remission of the inflammatory atmosphere in society, it is a good time to meticulously investigate the dimensions of COVID-19 occurring in human societies from an ethical perspective. In the early days of COVID-19, due to its unknown nature and high fear in societies, the world witnessed some immoralities in the field of health justice and the distribution of health medicines and items. After the production of the vaccine, its distribution was unfair and far from ethics and international legal charters, and most of the prescribed vaccines were used in high-income countries and the share of low-income countries was low. Moreover, the waves of the disease have caused the accumulation of a large number of patients in medical centers and the consequence of these difficult and exhausting conditions has led to many physical and mental disorders in many medical staffs, especially nurses due to their closer proximity and care of patients, influencing on their care quality and the performance of the country's health system. All these factors have led to the lack of patient-centered and empathetic care, discrimination, ignoring patients' independence as well as conflict between professional commitment and personal responsibilities, which have been the most common ethical problems in the medical staff. It is hoped to pay more attention to the Charter of Patients' Rights, which guarantees the movement of the health system within the framework of professional ethics, and to learn more from the recent crisis to identify the opportunities and threats in this direction.

The great scholars of the Islamic world, such as Abu Rihan al-Biruni, Zakaria al-Razi, and Ibn Sina have used Islamic teachings to create widespread success in various medical sciences, and their writings have been used as the driving force of medical science in Europe for centuries. The Holy Qur'an refers to the three main dimensions of physical, mental, and social health. Most of these services remain unknown to the world, so the aim of the present study was to determine the role of Islam in advancing medical science.

This study was conducted as a narrative review study. The study materials related to the role of Islam in the advancement of medical sciences were obtained by searching electronic databases including SID, Magiran, Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science.

The four main themes including the Qur'an and health, the Qur'an and the human body, disease prevention by the Qur'an as well as the Qur'an's verses and peace and healing were extracted from the study data.

In the teachings of Islam and the traditions of the Imams, the topics of health and nutrition as well as the health of body and soul have a special place. More and more detailed use of divine verses in the field of maintaining and promoting health seems necessary. Practicing the verses of the Qur'an as an important solution in preventing many physical and mental illnesses with emphasis on nutrition and peace of mind can be used by society.

Women play a fundamental role in the family and should have a high degree of flexibility and resilience in life issues and difficulties, and considering that the spiritual dimension is very important in the lives of people, the aim of this study was to review the effect of spiritual therapy on women's resilience.

For this review study, published sources were reviewed in Persian in the Magiran, SID, and Barakat databases and in English in the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Embase databases. The keywords of spirituality, spirituality therapy, resilience and women were searched for in the period 2000 to 2021. Finally, of 144 articles searched, 9 articles related to the target were examined. The studies were divided into two groups according to the type of intervention. These two groups included individual and group spiritual therapies.

Studies conducted with women in crisis included 4 studies: a study of women in the Covid 19 pandemic, divorced women, women with drug-addicted spouses, and individuals whose family member was admitted to the intensive care unit. Another 4 studies investigated spiritual therapy in women suffering from certain diseases such as breast cancer, systemic lupus erythematosus, and multiple sclerosis. The results of the studies have shown that spiritual therapy increases resilience and improves attitudes and interpretation of illness and life.

In fact, spiritual therapy brings about inner peace and strengthens planning to achieve goals. Spirituality helps people to evaluate negative life events differently. As a result, spirituality creates a stronger sense of control, which in this way contributes to psychological adjustment. It is suggested that health care professionals and providers use this intervention to prepare educational packages to strengthen women's resilience in times of crisis and certain diseases such as cancer, systemic lupus erythematosus, and multiple sclerosis.

Children are among the vulnerable groups in community health programs, and the infant mortality index is considered one of the most important socioeconomic indicators of communities. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate children's health based on the recommendations and teachings of Islam.

In this review study, a comprehensive review of Persian and English articles was performed using international databases such as Web of Science, Science Direct, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Moreover, English keywords such as Islamic Health, Women, Neonatal, Breastfeeding, and Child Health were searched individually and in combination as well as the Persian equivalents of the keywords were searched in Persian databases including SID, Irandoc, and Magiran. Inclusion criteria included review, clinical, experimental, cohort, and cross-sectional studies, as well as hypotheses generated in the area of children's health from the perspective of Islam, and exclusion criteria were repetition and lack of appropriateness of the text of the articles with the corresponding title.

From an Islamic perspective, concern for children's health is even related to the period before marriage and birth. Avoiding risky behaviors before marriage to form a healthy embryo, recommendations on healthy pregnancy and nutrition of the mother and its effects on the child, breastfeeding for two years, spacing between births, religious education of children, and observance of the rights and protection of children in the school of the Islamic religion, all this is effective in preserving the health of children, and today, many of these cases are listed in the guidelines of UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

The recommendations of the Islamic religion in the field of maintaining the health of children are very comprehensive and can be considered as a prerequisite for clinical trials, and if approved, they can be used to maintain children's health.

The holy Qur'an is the eternal miracle of the Prophet of Islam, and is a book that heals and calms the souls of people so that Qur'an transforms fatigue and restlessness into peace and cures pain. Familiarity with the Qur'an, both outwardly and inwardly, can have a great effect on the formation of people's personality. Knowing personality traits is the best way to deal with these adversities in the light of the familiarity with Qur'an.  The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between familiarity with Qur'an and personality traits.

The population of this descriptive-comparative study was all students of the Islamic Azad University of Sari. The study sample was 228 students, randomly selected. Research tools included familiarity with Qur'an questionnaire and Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness (NEO) Personality inventory. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, standard deviation, charts and tables) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation and multiple regression).

Three variables of personality trait (agreeableness, openness to experience and extraversion) entered into the regression analysis equation could significantly predict the variable of familiarity with Qur'an, but this relationship was inverse with openness to experience and had no relationship with neurosis (another variable of personality trait).

There was a significant relationship between familiarity with Qur'an and personality traits.

According to international standards, health does not include only physical aspects, and according to this, the World Health Organization defines health as "a state in which a person is completely healthy mentally, physically and socially, and shows no signs of illness or suffering." Various studies have shown that the more religious beliefs people have, the less stress and mental disorders they have, and on the other hand, this adherence to religious beliefs plays an important role in reducing sexual deviations, depression and other mental problems.

In the present review study, 51 articles from electronic databases or search engines such as PubMed, Google Scholar, and SID were reviewed.

Religious beliefs are one of the most important aspects of life to maintain and strengthen mental health, which are neglected can cause degeneration and widespread dangers in the health of society. Therefore, strengthening this dimension of life can play an effective role in maintaining peace, increasing the sense of self-respect and empowerment against problems and diseases, and on the other hand, it reduces psychological problems in people.

Considering the effective role of religious beliefs on the human personality dimension, it is possible to have a special coping style in facing diseases and nurturing healthy and Qur’anic people via using religious beliefs and planning.

 Understanding personality and explaining it scientifically describes human behaviors, helps people to prevent and treat many abnormal behaviors and mental disorders and leads people to mental health, which psychologists' opinion is the pursuit of achieving a high level of perfection. The aim of this study was to investigate the Qur'anic and narrative teachings and documents on the integrated monotheistic personality.

 This descriptive and qualitative study was documentary type based on library resources.

 According to the holy Qur’an, man has two spiritual and material (soul and body) dimensions. The Holy Qur’an sees the perfection of man in the cultivation of both dimensions in a balanced manner that truly and completely satisfies man's nature by establishing the balance between body and soul. In this regard, a person who makes God the center of his life and has a monotheistic personality will achieve the balance of body and soul and integrity more quickly.

 The present study has shown that faith in Almighty God creates peace in man and brings about a new understanding of the universe. This belief changes the perspective of man and turns him from a weak to a strong being. As a result, peace of mind reigns over human existence and he stands firmly against psychological problems and various injuries.

 Children grow physically and mentally in the shadow of their parents' affection and education. One of the most important duties of parents is to take care of their children's health. As important as it is to pay attention to the physical health of children, it is equally important to pay attention to their mental health. One of the most important factors for children's mental health is parents who have sufficient health themselves. One of the most important dimensions of parents' health is their spiritual health. In this context, the current study investigated the effect of parents' spiritual health on children's mental health.

 This study was conducted using a descriptive-analytical method through a library study of scientific resources and articles published in reliable scientific databases such as Iran Medex, Magiran, SID as well as the Google Scholar search engine, verses of the Qur’an and related narratives.

 The results indicated that the spiritual health of parents had a great effect on increasing the mental health of children.

 Better mental health can be achieved in the shadow of mental health, and as children go through the stages of physical and mental development in the shadow of parenthood, parents who are spiritually healthy can raise children with better mental health. Consequently, the success of families in maintaining the mental health of their children is possible in the shadow of the spiritual health of the parents.