Aims: Numerous measures exist that assess dimensions of spirituality and religiosity in health, theological and social settings. In this review, we aim to identify and evaluate measures assessing factors relating to spirituality and religiosity in clinical settings. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted using PubMed, EMBASE and PsycINFO databases with search terms relating to spirituality, religiosity that also included well-being, needs, distress and beliefs used in self-reporting and clinician-administered measures. Only articles relating to the validation and subsequent administration of measures used in clinical settings were eligible for review. Results: Of 75 measures selected for initial screening, 25 had been validated and used in clinical settings and were reviewed for this study. Most measures were validated in oncological and palliative care settings where the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Spiritual Well-being (FACIT-Sp12) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Spiritual, Religious and Personal Beliefs (WHOQOL-SRPB) were most validated and frequently used. Only six measures were found that assessed spiritual distress and/or the needs of which only two had been investigated more than twice. Two measures assessing spirituality and religious beliefs in healthcare staff were also reviewed. Conclusions: This review provides a current summary of measures evaluating several dimensions of spirituality and religiosity used in clinical settings. Currently there is a lack of reliable measures evaluating spiritual needs and distress.

A study was conducted to determine the kind of information palliative care volunteers would like to know about the patients they are being asked to support before they actually meet with them for the first time. Thirty-one palliative care volunteers responded to a brief questionnaire, developed for this study. At least half of the volunteers indicated that their coordinator provided them with the following patient information: (1) the patient's support system/family circumstances (eg, if there is any family), (2) the patient's diagnosis/disease, (3) the patient's age, and (4) the patient's location (address/room number). Overall, the volunteers were very satisfied with the information their coordinators passed along to them. Volunteers rated medical information (eg, the patient's diagnosis) and relationship information (eg, the patient's marital status) as being more important to them than personal information (eg, the patient's interests and hobbies). The 3 most important sources of patient information, mentioned by at least half of the volunteers, were (1) their coordinator, (2) the patient's family members, and (3) the patient himself or herself. Only a few volunteers described issues around confidentiality that had arisen in their work (eg, being a volunteer in a small town, where people know what you are doing).

Scleredema [corrected] adultorum as originally described by Buschke in 1900, is cutaneous thickening of unknown aetiology. Since then several cases have been reported which have illustrated different aspects of the disease but the exact aetiology, pathogenesis and prognosis remain uncertain. Disease of possible iatrogenic origin appears not to have been described previously.

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