A survey of the relationship between spiritual well-being and anxiety of aged people with heart failure

Abstract Background: Spiritual problems and anxiety are the most common complications of the elderly patients admitted in coronary care units. They are more susceptible, due to the weak adaptation mechanisms. Earlier studies on spiritual health revealed that it was related to the physical and mental health, but the relationship between spiritual health and state-trait anxiety was not clear yet. Methods & Materials: This study was a cross-sectional analytical study done on 80 elderly cardiac patients in coronary care units of Heshmat hospital by convenience sampling method. The researcher's interview with participants and data were collected by using Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Palutzian and Ellison Spiritual Well-being questionnaires. For data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics such as Pearson, ANOVA t-test, and correlation coefficient were carried out using SPSS 16. The level of significance was P< 00.05. Results: The majority of people aged between 65 to 75 years, 78.1% were female, and 66.2% were married. The mean score of spiritual well-being was 69.65. The mean of trait anxiety was in the midrange of 46.13±8.31, and the mean and standard deviation of anxiety state were in the high range of 67.44±15.9. The results revealed a negative relationship between spiritual religious health and state-trait anxiety (P<0.05). Conclusion: The Results indicated that an increase in spiritual health would be a concomitant of a reduction in depression, anxiety, and stress levels in these patients. Based on the results and importance of spiritual health, an improvement of proficiencies of medical and paramedical communities appears to be mandatory.

Anxiety, Spiritual health, Aged people