[Pilot study for the development of a questionnaire for the measuring of the patients' attitude towards spirituality and religiosity and their coping with disease(SpREUK)].

Abstract

Objective: Life-threatening diseases are the standard situations which confront patients with spirituality and religiosity. Although both are wellknown factors in disease coping, their measurability and operationability remains a basic problem due to the variety of different meanings and interpretations of these terms. In this paper we describe the development of a questionnaire for the measuring of the patients' attitudes towards spirituality and religiosity and their disease coping (SpREUK).

Material and methods: For a first evaluation, 129 patients with a mean age of 54 years (SD 14.3) completed the questionnaire. 67% of them were women. 76% had a Christian denomination, 19% no denomination, and only 4% reported other religious traditions. 45% of the patients suffered from cancer, 18% from multiple sclerosis, 22% from other chronic diseases, and 15% from acute diseases. The questionnaire comprises 29 five-stage likert-scaled items. Apart from a descriptive analysis of the single items, reliability (Cronbach's alpha) and validity analysis (factor analysis) of the questionnaire was performed.

Results: Factor analysis resulted in four dimensions: (1) 'Search for meaningful support', (2) 'Guidance, control and message of disease', (A) 'Support in relations with the external through spirituality/religiosity', and (B) 'Stabilization of the inner condition through spirituality/religiosity'. The reliability of the four scales of the SpREUK questionnaire is high: Cronbach's alpha 0.82, 0.62, 0.89, resp. 0.74. Women had significantly higher SpREUK scores for scales 1 and 2 than male patients. Non-denominational patients had significantly lower scores in all four scales than those with a Christian denomination. The scores did not correlate with disease or duration of disease; however, there might be a positive correlation between age and the score of scale 2.

Discussion: The impact of spirituality and religiosity on the course of disease, coping skills, and health-related quality of life is broadly discussed not only in complementary medicine. With the SpREUK questionnaire we present a reliable and valid instrument to measure the patients' search for meaningful support through spirituality/religiosity in terms of disease coping and health restoration. Further evaluation of this instrument is planned with a focus on hospitals which are affiliated with a specific denomination, as a reasonable extension of quality management and concept development.