Effects of Spiritual Interventions on Health Outcome Among War Combats Suffer from Mental Disorders Hospitalized with COVID-19; A Randomized Controlled Trial

Effects of spiritual practice alongside medical care on health outcome in war combats suffered from mental disorders hospitalized due to COVID-19.

In a single-blinded clinical trial study, hospitalized war survivors with COVID-19(n=70) were randomly assigned in two groups. Spiritual practice intervention was the recitation of “Surah Al-Hamd” and “Ya-Allah” for 7 days (total of 21times). Information gathered on demographic characteristics, Short Form Survey (SF-12), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), length of hospitalization, ICU transfer, intubation, and death. Data were analyzed using SPSS and effect size.

A total of 64 war combats completed the study (intervention (n=29), comparison (n=35)). In the group with spiritual practice, mean differences of social functioning (+11.5versus+4.3; effect size=0.3), vitality (+1.5versus-5; effect size=0.3) and mental component summary(+5.7versus+0.6; effect size=0.1) were more significantly improved (p<0.05). At the end of the study the life satisfaction score was significantly higher in the intervention group (P=0.007). Moreover, the mean difference of SWLS was better in the intervention group (+0.78versus-0.14; p=0.007; effect size=0.4). The mean difference of anxiety in the intervention group was +2.7 (±1.3) and in the control was -0.5 (±1.8; p<0.001; effect size=0.7). There was no significant difference between the two groups on the duration of hospitalization, ICU admission, intubation and death (p>0.05).

The results of this study showed that spiritual practice along with routine medical management accompanied with better quality of life, more life satisfaction and less anxiety in war combat suffered from psychological disorders hospitalized due to COVID-19.