Spiritual needs among Koreans and Americans with advanced chronic illnesses: A cultural comparison

This study aimed to measure the frequency of spiritual needs, identify the factors associated with these needs among Korean and American persons living with an advance chronic illness and compare them from a cross-cultural perspective.

Persons with serious or life-limiting illnesses often have spiritual needs. Unmet spiritual needs are associated with poor well-being and threaten psychological health. Little is known about how specific spiritual needs vary across cultures.

A quantitative, cross-sectional, observational cross-cultural comparison was undertaken.

The study has been prepared in accordance with the STROBE guidelines. Convenience sampling was used to recruit participants from outpatient clinics in South Korea and Southern California (N = 202). Spiritual needs were measured using the Spiritual Interests Related to Illness Tool (SpIRIT); demographic and illness-related variables were also assessed using paper-and-pencil questionnaires. Data were analysed using various parametric statistical tests, including multiple regression analysis.

The findings quantify the intensity and types of spiritual needs that persons living with an advanced chronic illness experience. Furthermore, they show how the spiritual needs of religiously diverse samples of South Koreans and Americans differ. The findings also indicate that self-reported spirituality and religiosity independently explain a substantial amount of the variance in spiritual needs.

In both the samples, spiritual needs were reported and associated with spirituality and religiosity. Although all the eight domains of spiritual needs assessed by the SpIRIT were pertinent to the Korean and American samples, they were prioritised differently.

Screening patients to ascertain how important spirituality or religiosity is to them may help clinicians focus their in-depth assessments on those who report high levels of spirituality or religiosity because these patients may experience the strongest spiritual needs. The SpIRIT shows promise as a measure of diverse spiritual needs.