Status and influential factors of spiritual well-being in cancer patients with drug clinical trials: a cross-sectional study

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the spiritual well-being status of cancer patients in drug clinical trials and its influencing factors, and to provide theoretical support for the spiritual health intervention of clinical trial cancer patients. Methods This cross-section study was conducted among 244 cancer patients in clinical trials. The Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale Short Form (MSAS-SF), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 10 (CD-RISC 10), and Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual (FACIT-SP-12) were used to measure symptom burden, psychological resilience, and spiritual well-being. The Multiple Linear Regression Model was used to determine the influencing factors of patients' spiritual health. Results The overall spiritual health level of cancer patients with clinical trials was high (36.87 +/- 11.0), and the spiritual health level was positively correlated with psychological resilience (r = 0.872, P < 0.001). Religious belief, nationality, treatment regimen, and resilience were independent risk factors for the spiritual health of cancer patients in clinical trials. Patients with religious beliefs (beta = 0.097, P = 0.012), ethnic minorities (beta = 0.087, P = 0.023), and high resilience scores (beta = 0.874, P < 0.001) had higher levels of spiritual health. Patients who received single antineoplastic therapy (beta = - 0.079, P = 0.028) had lower levels of spiritual health. Conclusion Our study found that the spiritual health of cancer patients in clinical trials was at a high level, superior to cancer patients receiving conventional anti-tumor therapy. Religious belief, nationality, treatment regimen, and psychological resilience were the influential factors of spiritual health.