Effect of faith on the acceptance of chronic disease patients

Aim To examine the influence of religion on the acceptance of illness in chronic patients who find solace in religion and spiritual beliefs, according to gender, age and chronic disease type.Methods The study included 100 patients (40 males and 60 females) suffering from chronic diseases that were treated at the Clinic of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Osijek during the period between August 10 and September 30, 2011. The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being (FACIT-Sp) scale was used as a research instrument. Data were presented as absolute and relative frequencies, the observed differences between groups were tested by Fisher exact test and significance level was set at 0.05. Results Comparison of the area of spirituality in relation to gender showed the difference in the significance for males (Sv-12.5) and females (13.5) (p=0.033). Respondents older than 60 years had the highest mean score in all three areas of spirituality, (meaning 13.4, peace 11.3, religion 11.9), the overall mean value was 36.6. The rating of spirituality in the area of meaning (p=0.041) and peace (p=0.007) was significantly lower for subjects suffering from rheumatic diseases. The total value of the Facit-Sp scale was significantly higher for patients suffering from lung diseases (38.0 Sv). Significant correlation in the areas of meaning and peace was found (p<0.001) in all tested subjects.Conclusion The research has shown that religion had a significant influence on the acceptance of illness in chronic patients.