Explaining the spiritual needs of breast cancer patients: A qualitative study

Among all the types of cancer, breast cancer is the most common type of women's cancer that can cause many challenges for women. The diagnosis of cancer provokes many spiritual crises in the individual. Also, the nature of cancer disease increases the spiritual needs of patients and requires comprehensive care for them. Dealing with the condition can lead to severe crises in one's health; on the one hand, it makes them more vulnerable and, on the other hand, leads to personal and spiritual growth. This study aimed to explain the spiritual needs of breast cancer patients.

This study is a qualitative study conducted with a content analysis approach to explain spiritual needs in patients with breast cancer. The target population of this study was Iranian women with breast cancer. The sample size based on data, and the interview continued until data saturation. As a result, a sample of 14 women with breast cancer recruited at Behnam Deshpour charity resort in spring and summer of 2019. In fact, in this study, after 12 interviews, the data were saturated, and with two more cases, the sample size was 14 women with breast cancer. Inclusion criteria included a diagnosis of breast cancer, age between 30 and 50, female gender, ability to speak, and absence of Cognitive-perceptual disorders in patients and the absence of mental disorders in patient's records. Interest in research participation considered another criterion for inclusion. Also, the exclusion criterion was a lack of fluency in the Persian language during the interview. The main method of data collection in this study was in-depth semi-structured individual interviews. The interviews lasted between 30 and 45 minutes. All conversations were recorded in one session using a special audio recorder application and then transcribed verbatim on paper. Other methods used to collect data were field notes used as a complementary and unverified method of interviewing. The researcher also used reminder writing to collect the data. The research used several questions from a pre-designed and related study topic to guide the interview process and data collection. Data were analyzed using continuous comparisons and compared with each other. Also, to increase credibility, the researcher had a long and close relationship with the subject, the research location, and the participants. All interviews were reviewed by the participants while reviewing the code obtained by the contributors, and corrections made using their comments. The review by the participants and colleagues indicated that the data were verifiable. Also, researcher triangulation (employing more than one researcher to collect, analyze, or interpret data) was another method used to increase the validity of the findings.

According to the findings of this study, spiritual needs included two subgroups of existential needs and religious needs, each containing subcategories; existential needs include hope, meaning-seeking, gratitude, courage, forgiveness, human dignity, and religious needs. It includes worship and worship, spiritual safety, closeness to God.

In this study, the spiritual needs of patients with cancer were explored in greater depth, which results emphasize the important role of two religious and existential dimensions in patients' spiritual needs. These needs may affect patient satisfaction with care and understanding of the quality of care. As a result, it is necessary to pay more attention to the spiritual needs of these patients in order to improve the quality of services provided to them.