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Instruments Measuring Spirituality in Clinical Research: A Systematic Review
Open accessAbstract
Introduction Numerous instruments have been developed to assess spirituality and measure its association with health outcomes. This study's aims were to identify instruments used in clinical research that measure spirituality; to propose a classification of these instruments; and to identify those instruments that could provide information on the need for spiritual intervention.Methods A systematic literature search in MEDLINE, CINHAL, PsycINFO, ATLA, and EMBASE databases, using the terms "spirituality" and "adult$," and limited to journal articles was performed to identify clinical studies that used a spiritual assessment instrument. For each instrument identified, measured constructs, intended goals, and data on psychometric properties were retrieved. A conceptual and a functional classification of instruments were developed.Results Thirty-five instruments were retrieved and classified into measures of general spirituality (N = 22), spiritual well-being (N = 5), spiritual coping (N = 4), and spiritual needs (N = 4) according to the conceptual classification. Instruments most frequently used in clinical research were the FACIT-Sp and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale. Data on psychometric properties were mostly limited to content validity and inter-item reliability. According to the functional classification, 16 instruments were identified that included at least one item measuring a current spiritual state, but only three of those appeared suitable to address the need for spiritual intervention.Conclusions Instruments identified in this systematic review assess multiple dimensions of spirituality, and the proposed classifications should help clinical researchers interested in investigating the complex relationship between spirituality and health. Findings underscore the scarcity of instruments specifically designed to measure a patient's current spiritual state. Moreover, the relatively limited data available on psychometric properties of these instruments highlight the need for additional research to determine whether they are suitable in identifying the need for spiritual interventions.
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Metadata
- Authors
- Monod, S., Brennan, M., Rochat, E., Martin, E., Rochat, S., & Büla, C. J.
- Affiliations
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CH)
- University of Lausanne (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Monod, Stéfanie
- Venue
- Journal of General Internal Medicine
- Published
- 2011-07-02
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1345-1357
- ISSN
- 0884-8734 (ISSN-L)
- 1525-1497
- PMC
- PMC3208480
- OpenAlex
- W2067310507
- Semantic Scholar
- db07f123e2344a5e54c093d1e101374fd352e01c
- Cited by
- 338
- References
- 88
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 49 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 2.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Journal of General Internal Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- SERVAL (Université de Lausanne) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- reroDoc Digital Library (submittedVersion)
- IRIS (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Workplace Spirituality and Leadership
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Keywords
- spirituality measurement, spiritual well-being, spiritual coping, spiritual needs, psychometric properties, FACIT-Sp, Spiritual Well-Being Scale, spiritual intervention, instrument classification, spirituality and health
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Health Services Needs and Demand, Humans, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Psychometrics, Quality of Life, Surveys and Questionnaires, Religion, Stress, Psychological, Spirituality, Biomedical Research
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