Association between Spirituality and Quality of Life in People with malignant Neoplasias

Abstract

Introduction: Comprehensive care is necessary in all the dimensions of the person affected by malignant tumors, as a way to identify and monitor the impacts experienced by patients.

Objective: To integrate the results of studies concerning spirituality and quality of life of people with malignant neoplasm.

Methods: An integrative review was carried out in 2021 in the LILACS, BDENF and MEDLINE databases. The guiding question was structured with the IOP acronym. The search strategy was performed with the descriptors Espiritualidad [spirituality], Calidad de Vida [quality of Life] and neoplasia maligna [malignant neoplasia], associated with the Boolean operators AND and OR. The PRISMA flowchart was used. The inclusion criteria were total availability, cohort time 2016-2021, and materials published in Portuguese, English and Spanish; while the exclusion criteria were duplicate studies, manuals, course completion papers, dissertations, theses, editorials, letters to the editor, event proceedings, integrative reviews and advance notes. For the analysis of the results, the material was read to analyze whether it met the pre-established methodological criteria and whether it was associated with the objective of the review. Twenty articles were selected for the literature review.

Conclusions: The systematization and analysis of the identified articles served to understand how spirituality is associated with the promotion of increased quality of life in its various phases and its implications in the oncological context as a relevant factor in an integral and holistic way for contributing to physical, psychological and social well-being in different groups and countries.