Prostate cancer and spirituality: a systematic review

Abstract

The diagnosis, treatment, and sequels of cancer are relevant sources of stress, con ficts, and sufering, but spirituality may be a positive coping element. However, studies involving the correlation between prostate cancer patients and spirituality are few and heterogeneous. MEDLINE (PUBMED), SCOPUS, and EMBASE were the databases used for this review with the keywords “spirituality,” “religion,” and “prostate cancer.” The review was performed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. About 250 articles were found, and 30 were eligible. Most studies (N=26; 86.6%) reported the relationship between spir ituality and better health fndings such as 80% being positively associated with more screening for prostate cancer and better patients’ quality of life. More interventional, randomized, and multicentric trials are needed to clarify this relationship.