The purpose of the present study is to determine the impact of illness characteristics and psychopathological comorbidity on the quality of life (QoL) of radio-oncological patients in health-related and individual dimensions. Sixty-three of 93 eligible patients (40 women and 23 men) were included in the study during their radiation therapy visit to an outpatient centre annexed to a community hospital in Southern Bavaria, Germany. In a semi-structured interview, we elicited individually relevant life domains rated by the patients according to the 'Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life - Direct Weighting'. In addition, the participants completed the 'European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QoL Questionnaire Core 30' and the 'Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale'. We also assessed the demand for psychotherapy and utilization of psycho-oncological services. In total, 9.5% of the examined patients suffer from clinically relevant anxiety and/or depression [total Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) score >19]. There was a weak positive correlation between Karnofsky's Performance Status and QoL. Anxiety and depression were significantly correlated with impaired QoL, especially with impaired individual QoL. There was no association between psychopathological comorbidity and the requirement for psycho-oncological support. Conversely, patients who report difficulties in accepting help had a significantly lower QoL. Psychopathological comorbidity has a considerable influence on QoL of patients undergoing radiotherapy. Measuring the individual QoL appears as an adapted needs assessment and helps the psychotherapist in focusing on the patient's problems and desires. Furthermore, the patient's QoL is a main target in providing or planning mental health care in non-university oncological services.

This systematic review was conducted to assess the outcomes of spiritual care training. It outlines the training outcomes based on participants' oral/written feedback, course evaluation and performance assessment. Intervention was defined as any form of spiritual care training provided to healthcare professionals studying/working in an academic and/or clinical setting. An online search was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, ERIC, PsycINFO, ASSIA, CSA, ATLA and CENTRAL up to Week 27 of 2013 by two independent investigators to reduce errors in inclusion. Only peer-reviewed journal articles reporting on training outcomes were included. A primary keyword-driven search found 4912 articles; 46 articles were identified as relevant for final analysis. The narrative synthesis of findings outlines the following outcomes: (1) acknowledging spirituality on an individual level, (2) success in integrating spirituality in clinical practice, (3) positive changes in communication with patients. This study examines primarily pre/post-effects within a single cohort. Due to an average study quality, the reported findings in this review are to be seen as indicators at most. Nevertheless, this review makes evident that without attending to one'the repeliefs and needs, addressing spirituality in patients will not be forthcoming. It also demonstrates that spiritual care training may help to challenge the spiritual vacuum in healthcare institutions.

We conducted a phase-I study to test the practicability and usefulness of a short (15-30 min) clinical interview for the assessment of cancer patients' spiritual needs and preferences. Physicians assessed the spirituality of their patients using the semi-structured interview SPIR. The interview focuses on the meaning and effect of spirituality in the patient's life and coping system. Visual Analogue Scales (VAS) and Questionnaires were completed following the interview for rating whether SPIR had been helpful or distressing, and to what extent spirituality seemed important in the patient's life and in coping with cancer disease. Thirty oncological outpatients who all agreed to participate were included. The majority wanted their doctor to be interested in their spiritual orientation. Patients and interviewing physicians evaluated the SPIR interview as helpful (patients mean 6.76 +/- 2.5, physicians 7.31 +/- 1.9, scale from 0 to 10) and non-distressing (patients 1.29 +/- 2.5, physicians 1.15 +/- 1.3, scale from 0 to 10). Following the interview, doctors were able to correctly gauge the importance of spirituality for their patients. Patients who considered the interview as very helpful (VAS > 7) were more often female (P = 0.002). There were no differences between patients who evaluated the SPIR as very helpful and those who did not, as far as diagnosis, educational level or belonging to a religious community were concerned. The present study shows that a short clinical assessment of cancer patients' spirituality is well received by both patients and physicians. The SPIR interview may be a helpful tool for addressing the spiritual domain, planning referrals and ultimately strengthening the patient-physician relationship.

Individual QoL as assessed by the SEIQoL-DW is unrelated to standard health-status measures such as the EORTC QLQ-C30 or the Karnofsky index. Patient-perceived iQoL in PBSCT seems to depend largely on areas others than health and physical functioning, with the family playing a prominent role.

Spirituality/religiosity is recognized as a resource to cope with burdening life events and chronic illness. However, less is known about the consequences of the lack of positive spiritual feelings. Spiritual dryness in clergy has been described as spiritual lethargy, a lack of vibrant spiritual encounter with God, and an absence of spiritual resources, such as spiritual renewal practices. To operationalize experiences of “spiritual dryness” in terms of a specific spiritual crisis, we have developed the “spiritual dryness scale” (SDS). Here, we describe the validation of the instrument which was applied among other standardized questionnaires in a sample of 425 Catholic priests who professionally care for the spiritual sake of others. Feelings of “spiritual dryness” were experienced occasionally by up to 40%, often or even regularly by up to 13%. These experiences can explain 44% of variance in daily spiritual experiences, 30% in depressive symptoms, 22% in perceived stress, 20% in emotional exhaustion, 19% in work engagement, and 21% of variance of ascribed importance of religious activity. The SDS-5 can be used as a specific measure of spiritual crisis with good reliability and validity in further studies.