ARTICLE INFO

Article Type

Descriptive & Survey Study

Authors

Pouraboli   B. (1)
Hosseini   S.V. (2)
Miri   S. (*)
Tirgari   B. (3)
Arab   M. (4)






(*) Nursing and General Health Department, Razi Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
(1) Natal & Children Nursing Department, Nursing & Midwifery Faculty, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
(2) Nursing and General Health Department, Razi Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
(3) Internal-Surgical Nursing Department, Razi Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
(4) Critical Care Nursing Department, Razi Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

Correspondence

Address: General Health Department, Razi Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Haft Baghe Alavi Boulevard, Kerman, Iran
Phone: +983431325219
Fax: +983431215218
miri.education@gmail.com

Article History

Received:  August  25, 2015
Accepted:  October 10, 2015
ePublished:  November 21, 2015

BRIEF TEXT


… [1-10] Since spiritual health is one of the main aspects of human health leading to the individuality integration [11], it is needed to investigate spiritual health and quality of life in the veterans. … [12, 13]

Spirituality plays an important role in the psychological and physical health, and can be considered as the current strategy to cope with the problems [14, 15]. There is a direct and significant correlation between the quality of the social services received by the veterans and all aspects of their life [16].

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between spiritual health and quality of life in the veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) recorded by Kerman Martyrs and Veterans Foundation.

This is descriptive-correlational study.

All the veterans with PTSD recorded by Kerman Martyrs and Veterans Foundation (Iran) were studied in 2013.

Based on the previous studies [11] and via sample size formula, the sample size was estimated 147 persons. The subjects were selected of the veterans with PTSD using random sampling method. 143 questionnaires were analyzed.

Data was collected using spiritual health and quality of life questionnaires. 20-question spiritual health questionnaire assesses religious health (10 questions) and existential health (10 questions). The scoring is based on 6-degree scale from “completely disagree” to “completely agree”. Validity of spiritual health questionnaire was assessed via content validity and its reliability was determined 0.82 using Cronbach’s alpha [17]. 36-question quality of life questionnaire (SF 36) is used to measure the quality of life in relation to the health. Physical health includes general health, physical functioning, and physical limits and pain. In addition, mental health includes mental problems, social functioning, and mental health and vitality [18]. Its reliability and validity have been confirmed in Iranian population. Data was analyzed by SPSS 18 software using independent T test and one-way ANOVA to compare the mean scores. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to investigate the correlation between the variables. … [19]

All the studied veterans were male. 48.3% of the veterans aged between 41 and 50 years. 93.7%, 23.1%, 30.8%, and 15.4% were married, employees, with diploma or higher educational level, and with two children, respectively. 54.5% of the veterans’ spouses were house-wives. The educational level of 45.5% of the spouses was diploma. Injury percentage of 30.8% of the veterans was between 1 and 15%. Mean score of spiritual health of the veterans was 87.97±12.30. Mean religious health score (46.48±7.04) was more than mean existential health score (41.49±6.51). 16.8% and 81.8% of the veterans were with high and moderate spiritual health, respectively. There was no case with low spiritual health. Total mean score of quality of life was 40.92±8.52 in mental health. The highest and the lowest mean scores of quality of life in the mental health aspect were in social functioning (52.88±20.75) and in mental health domain (33.53±11.98), respectively. In addition, total mean score of quality of life in the physical health aspect was 61.55±10.27. In the aspect, the highest and the lowest mean score of quality of life were in general health (54.79±13.72) and in physical problems (43.83±30.09), respectively. There was a significant correlation between the veterans’ spiritual health and their quality of life (p<0.001; r=0.43). There was a significant correlation between total score of spiritual health and the score of physical health aspect of quality of life (p<0.001; r=0.28). There were positive and significant correlations between spiritual health and physical pain (p<0.007; r=0.22) and general health (p=0.001; r=0.28). There were significant correlations between the religious health aspect and physical functioning (p=0.001; r=0.28) and physical pain (p=0.009; r=0.22). There were significant correlations between the existential health aspect and general health (p=0.001; r=0.36), physical functioning (p=0.001; r=0.28), and physical pain (p=0.026; r=0.28). There were significant correlations between the score of spiritual health and the scores of social functioning (p<0.026; r=0.01) and mental health (p=0.009; r=0.22). In addition, there were significant correlations between the religious health aspect and vitality (p=0.019; r=0.01) and between the existential health aspect and social functioning (p=0.001; r=0.29) and mental health (p<0.004; r=0.24). There was no significant correlation between spiritual health and quality of life in the veterans based on the demographic information (p>0.05).

Total mean score of spiritual health of the veterans was moderate. Spiritual health level of most of the veterans was high or moderate and there was no weak spiritual health. In the patients with coronary artery disease, the spiritual health level of the patients is moderate [20], which is consistent with the present results. The spiritual health level of most patients with cancers is moderate [21], which is consistent with the present results. The spiritual health level of most patients underwent hemodialysis is high [22]. … [23] Total mean scores of the veterans’ quality of life in the physical health aspect were 61.55 of 100 scores. There is less mean score of the veterans’ quality of life than the present result [11]. There was a significant correlation between the veterans’ spiritual health and their quality of life. In addition, there were significant correlations between quality of life and two aspects of spiritual health including religious health and existential health. Spirituality plays an important role in the lives of the veterans with PTSD and, also, there is a significant correlation between the quality of life of the soldiers and their spiritual health [24]. The results are consistent with the present results. Enhancement in the spiritual health of the soldiers with PTSD reduces the symptoms and increases their quality of life [23]. There is a significant correlation between spiritual health and quality of life in the elderly [25]. The result is consistent with the present results. There are powerful beliefs and spiritual tendencies in the veterans [11], which is consistent with the present results. There is a significant correlation between spirituality and quality of life in patients with cancers [25]. There is better quality of life in mothers of the children with cancers, who are with high spirituality [26]. The result is consistent with the present results. … [27, 28]

Strategies to enhance the application level of the spiritual health strategies should be used to enhance the veterans’ health level.

The samples were the veterans with PTSD only, and this was one of the limitations for the study.

There is a direct correlation between quality of life and spiritual health of the veterans with PTSD recorded by Kerman Martyrs and Veterans Foundation. In addition, the higher the spiritual health level, the higher the quality of life of the veterans is.

Staff of Martyrs and Veterans Foundation is appreciated.

Non-declared

Written consents were received from the veterans. The study was confirmed by Kerman University of Medical Sciences and Ethics Committee of the university.

The study was confirmed by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.


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