Journal of Palliative Care & Medicine
Open Access

Abstract

Palliative care is an approach that has been used to care for terminally ill patients. The current study was performed to assess the association between the status of patient dignity and Quality of Life (QOL) in Iranian terminally ill patients with cancer. This descriptive correlational study was conducted on 210 end-stage cancer patients (102 men and 108 women) who were referred to Seyed Al-Shohada Hospital, Isfahan, Iran, in 2015. To assess dignity status, we used the Patient Dignity Inventory. The Persian version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire was used for QOL assessment. There was a significant negative association between total dignity status and QOL scales. In addition, significant negative relationship was observed between dignity-related domains (loss of worth sense: r=−0.50, P<0.001; anxiety and uncertainty: r=−0.51, P<0.001; symptom distress: r=−0.62, P<0.001; and loss of autonomy: r=−0.61, P<0.001) and functional scale and some subscales of the QOL scale. In contrast, a significant positive relationship was found between dignity-related domains and total symptom scale and fatigue. No significant relationship was observed between different items of dignity and global health status/QOL scale. High dignity status in terminally ill patients was associated with higher QOL in terms of functional intactness and lower symptom distress. Further studies are necessary to shed light to our findings.

Biography

Masoud Rezaei has completed his master’s degree in Nursing Education from the University of Isfahan Medical Sciences. He has done his thesis on the care of the end of life in cancer patients. Currently he is a PhD student in Nursing Education at the Khatam Hospital’s Neuroscience Research Center. His research interests focus on the care of cancer patients and palliative medicine.

E-mail: Masoud.rezaei68@yahoo.com