BACKGROUND/SIGNIFICANCE: In the United States, breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women. Life threatening illnesses, such as breast cancer, have been found to cause disharmony in the lives of those with the illness. Research shows that spirituality, a coping resource, may be used by people with cancer to improve their quality of life. However, little attention has been paid to the level of spirituality in women with breast cancer over time or what impact age has on spirituality prior to, during, and after adjuvant therapy. PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to examine: 1) the level of spirituality in women newly diagnosed with breast cancer and 2) the level of spirituality based on age before, during, and after adjuvant therapy. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: The study was derived from Lazarus and Folkman’s, cognitive appraisal theory, which identifies the important role that coping resources, such as spirituality, play in stress appraisal. METHOD: 57 women with newly diagnosed breast cancer completed a demographic form and the Daily Spirituality Experience Scale. Questionnaires were collected: prior to adjuvant therapy; 3 months later during adjuvant therapy; and 6 months after baseline at the completion of adjuvant therapy. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA and women were divided into 2 groups by a median split and t-tests were conducted. DISCUSSION: Levels of spirituality were relatively high prior to, during, and after adjuvant therapy and thus, did not significantly change over the study period. In addition, a trend was noted that older women had higher levels of spirituality than younger women at all three time periods. These findings support previous research that spirituality is an inherent and stable coping resource. Findings from this study will assist nurses in understanding the role of spirituality in improving the quality of life of women with breast cancer.
Session #1223 - Graduate Student Poster Session
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)