Analysis of spiritual well-being status and influencing factors in patients with esophageal cancer: a cross-sectional study

To understand the status of spiritual well-being in patients with esophageal cancer and analyze its influencing factors.

A total of 187 patients with esophageal cancer (EC) from two grade A hospitals in Chengdu were selected and investigated by general data questionnaire, chronic disease function evaluation-spirituality scale 12 (FACIT-SP-12), general well-being scale (GWB), and Anderson symptom assessment scale gastrointestinal tract (MDASI-GI).

The spiritual well-being score of patients with esophageal cancer was (25.13 ± 9.63). Spiritual well-being was positively correlated with general well-being and negatively correlated with symptom burden (P < 0.01). The results of multiple stepwise linear regression analysis showed that hobbies, disease stage, general well-being, and symptom burden were the main influencing factors for the spiritual well-being of esophageal cancer patients (P < 0.05), explaining 49.0% of the total variation.

The spiritual well-being of patients with esophageal cancer is lower than the middle level, In addition, whether there is a hobby in life, disease stage, subjective well-being, and symptom burden are the main factors affecting the spiritual well-being of patients with EC. It is suggested that medical staff should take targeted care measures according to the influencing factors, so as to improve the spiritual well-being level of patients and improve the quality of life of patients.