Effect of Intercessory Prayer in Patients With Breast Cancer in Radiotherapy Treatment: Clinical Trial

Overview

Living with breast cancer and forms of treatment, among them radiation therapy can cause both side effects such as pain, fatigue and skin changes that affect the well-being, as anxiety, feelings of isolation and changes in routine, which generate existential conflicts and allow the origin of the spiritual anguish phenomenon, which in turn, aggravates the physical and emotional symptoms and the ability to fight the disease. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the effect of intercessory prayer on levels of spiritual distress, religious / spiritual coping, psychological morbidity (anxiety and depression) and amylase levels salivary present in patients with breast cancer radiotherapy.

Reflection on the existence and the meaning of life, common among people with breast cancer radiotherapy generates a suffering that, when directed to the spiritual dimension, results in spiritual distress. In addition, combined with the presence of this phenomenon can flourish during this phase psychological morbidity such as anxiety and depression. In order to face this situation, each person uses cognitive and behavioral strategy according to their beliefs and their meaning of life (religious / spiritual coping). The use of intercessory prayer, where an individual asks a higher being for the benefit of someone seen as receiver, is a strategy that can help people cope with the situation of illness and restore your health. Prayer is one of these activities in the nursing intervention "spiritual support" (5420) proposed by the Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC). a complementary alternative therapy is considered and can be used as an adjuvant in radiotherapy. Therefore, the aim of this study is to verify that the intercession of prayer cause positive effects on levels of spiritual distress, religious coping / spiritual and psychological morbidity (anxiety and depression) present in patients with breast cancer radiotherapy. Thus, a clinical trial will be used randomized controlled and mascaraed. Intervention group will receive the prayer of intercession and control groups (positive and negative) usual care. The data will be analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20.0 and will be adopted as the reference value p \<0.05.