Study Design
This crosssectional study's population consisted of elderly individuals living in all nursing homes in Manisa. 0.80 power and 0.05 margin of error were used to evaluate whether there was a moderately positive linear relationship (H0:r=0.30, H1:r=0.50) between the Spiritual Well-Being Scale score and Quality of Life Scale scores in elderly individuals living in nursing homes. Considering the sample size calculation, it was determined that 139 patients should be included in the study. The sample size calculation was made with the G*Power 3.1.9.7 program.
The data was collected from voluntary participants using the non-probable sampling method (n =188). 139 involuntary residents diagnosed with advanced cognitive dysfunction (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, dementia), could not answer the questionnaires due to communication problems, did not score adequately in the Mini-Mental Test, and needed advanced care were excluded from the study.
The inclusion criteria were as follows: 65 years of age or older, no language problems, no diagnosis of dementia/psychiatric illness/mental retardation, and volunteering. As a data collection tool, the Socio-demographic Information Form (e.g., gender, age, education level, marital status, income status), the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (Facit Sp-12), the Quality-of-Life Scale (EQ-5D), and a Mini-Mental Test were used.
Spiritual Well-Being Scale (Facit Sp-12)
For Turkish society, its validity and reliability were done by Ay et al. The scale consists of 12 expressions and has three sub-dimensions: 1) meaning (items 2,3,5 and 8; between 0-16 points); 2) peaceful (items 1,4,6 and 7; between 0-16 points); 3) faith (items 9,10,11, and 12; between 0-16 points). The sum of the scores obtained from the sub-dimensions determines the individual’s total score on the scale. The highest score that can be obtained is 48. A high score indicates an indi-vidual’s spiritual well-being is in good condition13.
Quality of Life Scale (EQ-5D)
The Quality of Life Scale is a self-report scale developed by the Euro-QoL group, a research community on Western European quality of life. The Turkish version's validity and reliability were measured14.
The five dimensions of the EQ-5D scale are evaluated with one question each. These five dimensions are mobility, self-care, usual daily activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression. In terms of the answers to each dimension, there are three options, including “no problem,” “some problem,” and “major problem.” An index score ranging from 0.59 to 1 is calculated from the five dimensions of the scale. The higher the scale score, the higher an individual's quality of life.
In addition, there is also the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), with responses ranging from "worst imaginable health condition" to "best imaginable health condition,” for which individuals give values between 0 and 100 regarding their current health status, marking it on a thermometer-like scale. Quality of life scores range from 0 to 100 on this scale.
Research Ethics
The research permission was obtained from the local Ethics Committee and the Provincial Directorate of Family, Labor, and Social Services (No: 20478486- 050.04.04). Before applying the questionnaire, the individuals were informed about the research, and verbal consent was obtained via an informed, voluntary consent form. In addition, this research was supported by the local University Scientific Research Project.
Statistical analysis
SPSS 15.0 software was used for data entry and statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics (number, percentage distribution), the quality-of-life scale, and the relationship between the Spiritual Well-Being Scale and specific sociodemographic characteristics were evalu-ated via univariate analysis (e.g., Student’s t-test and Kruskal Wallis test, ANOVA) and multiple linear regression analysis. Significance was accepted as p < 0.05.
)
)
)
)
)