The Effect of Spirituality on Illness Perceptions in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis: Spirituality and Health

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of spirituality on illness perceptions of Greek patients on hemodialysis. The cross-sectional study design was employed for this purpose. The sample comprised of 367 patients on hemodialysis. Data were collected via a three-part questionnaire consisting of a sheet containing demographic and clinical information, the Illness Perceptions Questionnaire, and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being Scale (FACIT-Sp-12). Data were processed with SPSS V.21, descriptive as well as inferential statistics were applied. The significant level was set at 0.05; 62.1% of the patients in the sample were men and 37.9% women. Their ages ranged from 18 to 92 years old, with an average of 61.80 years old. The findings of the research showed that the spirituality score both total and the subscales leads to a decrease illness perceptions score, meaning that patients perceive the disease as less threatening. The overall score of the Illness Perceptions Questionnaire was above the median, which means that patients perceive their condition as quite threatening. Overall, individual spirituality has a positive impact on the way patients perceive their condition. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.