Relationship between Spirituality and Socio-demographic Factors in an African Population

Abstract

Background: Spirituality is an important aspect of life that is not often addressed in modern day medical practice. This is related to the lack of clarity about the nature of the concept. However, its role in research is being revisited because of its ever greater importance. Purpose: To determine the relationship between spirituality and social demographic characteristics of the adult patients. Methods: In a hospital-based descriptive cross sectional study, 422 randomly selected eligible and consenting adult patient were recruited using interviewer administered questionnaire. Results: Four hundred and twenty-two respondents were studied consisting 270 (64.0%) females and 152 (36.0%) males. Their age ranged from 19 to 85 years with a mean ± SD of 42.8 ± 15.9 years. The mean spirituality score ± SD was 125.7 ± 12.1. The mean spirituality score ± SD was significantly higher in the females, married, and older (≥40 years) respondents compared with their respective counterparts (126.5 ± 10.2 versus 124.0 ± 15.2, t=2.032, p=0.043, 127.1 ± 11.6 versus 124.1 ± 15.2 p= 0.014 and 125.4 ± 13.3 versus 124.6 ± 10.6, p= 0.160 respectively).For every one year increase in age, there is an attendant 0.087 unit increment in the spirituality score of the respondents (95% CI=0.013 to 0.161, p=0.022). Conclusion: The study revealed that social demographic factors are independent predictors of spirituality.