Volume 19, Issue 1 (Spring 2024)                   Salmand: Iranian Journal of Ageing 2024, 19(1): 130-143 | Back to browse issues page


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Mortazavi F S, Shati M, Mortazavi S S, Shirzad F, Moghadam M, Ajamzibad H. The Spiritual Health Status of Iranian Older Adults: A Population-based Telephone Survey. Salmand: Iranian Journal of Ageing 2024; 19 (1) :130-143
URL: http://salmandj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-2637-en.html
1- Spiritual Health Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
2- Mental Health Research Center, Psychosocial Health Research Institute, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
3- Interdisciplinary Research Development Center of Islamic Education and Health Sciences, Iran university of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. , mortazavi.ss@Iums.ac.ir
4- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
5- Family, Population and Faculty Health Office, Health Deputy, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.
6- Department of Geriatrics, Faculty of Nursing, Nursing Research Center, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran.
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Introduction
Iran is one of the countries whose population is rapidly aging. Population aging has many economic, social, cultural, and health-related consequences [1-4]. Health has various dimensions; in addition to physical, mental and social dimensions, it has a spiritual dimension [5]. The results of studies have shown that religion and spirituality play an important role in preventing disease and improving health in the elderly. A good planning is needed to design effective and local interventions to maintain or improve spiritual health of the elderly. Considering the importance of evidence-based planning and decision-making, it is necessary to first determine the current state of spiritual health and its dimensions in the elderly using valid tools. Many studies have been conducted in the field of spiritual health of the elderly in Iran, but no national study was found that evaluated the state of spiritual health of the elderly in the whole country. In this national study, we aim to evaluate the spiritual health status and its dimensions in Iranian elderly by using a localized tool.

Methods
This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted in 2022. Sampling was done by stratified random method from 28 provinces of Iran. The criteria for entering the study were age at least 60 years and having Iranian nationality. The exclusion criteria were any cognitive or active psychiatric disorders. In this study, the elder spiritual health scale designed by Ajamzibad et al. in 2016, was used. This tool has 20 items and five subscales of spiritual belief (5 items), centricity of God (5 items), altruism (4 items), spiritual conduct (4 items) and purposefulness of life (2 items). Questionnaires were completed by health experts in the deputy for health of the universities, who were trained for this purpose. The duration of completing each questionnaire was less than 20 minutes. Data analysis was done using SPSS software, version 21. Considering that the variables did not have a normal distribution, the Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to compare the spiritual health score and its dimensions in different subgroups.

Results
In this study, 548 elderly people from 28 provinces of Iran participated. Their mean age was 67.8±6.6 years ranged 60-94 years. Most of the samples were married and literate and lived with their families. The religion of all participants was Islam. The mean total score of spiritual health was 91.2±10.0. Among the dimensions, the highest score was related to spiritual belief (mean: 95.8) and the lowest was related to the purposefulness of life (Mean: 87). 
In Table 1, the results of assessing relationship of demographic variables with spiritual health and its dimensions are presented. With increasing age, the score of spiritual health increases in total and in all dimensions significantly increased. Regarding the educational level, only in the spiritual conduct dimension, illiterate people had significantly higher score than literate people and those with academic education. Regarding the spiritual belief, illiterate people and those with academic education had significantly higher scores than literate people. Regarding the marital status, the spiritual conduct scores were significantly higher in unmarried people (single, divorced, widow/widowed) than married people.



Conclusion
Based on the results of this study, the spiritual health of the Iranian elderly people in overall and in the dimensions of spiritual belief and centricity of God were at a high level, which can be used as a potential source for improving the health of the elderly in other health dimensions (physical, psychological, and social). Considering that the scores of the dimensions of spiritual conduct, altruism, and purposefulness of life low, it is necessary to develop effective interventions. It is better to provide these interventions first for people at younger ages for both older women and men, married or unmarried.

Ethical Considerations

Compliance with ethical guidelines

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Iran University of Medical Sciences (Code: IR.IUMS.REC.1397.554).

Funding
This study was funded by the Spiritual Health Research Center of Iran University of Medical Sciences (Grant No.: 97-02-226-33665).

Authors' contributions
The authors contributed equally for preparing this article.

Conflicts of interest
The authors declared no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all seniors participated in this study for their cooperation. Also, The authors are grateful to the geriatric health experts in the branch of medical sciences universities of the country who helped in the implementation of this study.


 
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Type of Study: Research | Subject: gerontology
Received: 2023/06/06 | Accepted: 2023/09/05 | Published: 2024/04/01

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