AccScience Publishing / EJMO / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/EJMO025380405
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Predictors of spiritual needs in Chinese cancer patients: The prominent roles of time since diagnosis, depression severity, and residential area

Wang Ting1 ,  Salwismawati Badrin1* ,  Salziyan Badrin2
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1 Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
2 Department of Family Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
EJMO, 025380405 https://doi.org/10.36922/EJMO025380405
Received: 19 September 2025 | Revised: 19 November 2025 | Accepted: 20 November 2025 | Published online: 12 January 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Introduction: Cancer patients often experience psychological distress that accompanies their physical symptoms; consequently, heightened spiritual needs may reflect an important coping response. In Chinese cultural settings, the manifestation of spirituality is significantly different from that suggested by Western paradigms, with greater emphasis on non-religious aspects of spirituality, including harmony between people and inner peace, than on traditional religious beliefs.

Objective: The current study aims to assess the spiritual needs of Chinese cancer patients in the hospital and to define sociodemographic, psychological, and clinical variables correlated with these needs using Chinese-validated instruments.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between February and April 2025, involving 189 cancer patients who presented to Shanxi Bethune Hospital in China. Participants were requested to complete the Chinese version of the 27-item Spiritual Needs Questionnaire (SpNQ-Ch-27), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, and multiple linear regression.

Results: Participants reported moderate spiritual needs, with an average SpNQ-Ch-27 overall score of 37.23 (standard deviation = 16.91). The highest scores were obtained in the domains of active giving and inner peace, and the lowest in the religious domains, indicating a prevalence of a non-religious spiritual orientation. The predictors of spiritual needs identified using multivariate regression included a time since diagnosis of <6 months (β = 0.52, p<0.001), greater severity of depressive symptoms (β = 0.21, p=0.002), rural residence (β = 0.19, p=0.003), and low household income <3,000 RMB/month), which also showed a significant negative association (β = −0.14, p=0.029). The final model explained 78.9% of the variance in spiritual-needs scores.

Conclusion: Recently diagnosed cancer patients demonstrate the highest spiritual needs, with depression and socioeconomic vulnerability serving as additional risk factors. Chinese patients prioritize relational and existential spiritual dimensions over religious practices.

Keywords
Spirituality
Neoplasms
Depression
Social support
Cross-sectional study
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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Eurasian Journal of Medicine and Oncology, Electronic ISSN: 2587-196X Print ISSN: 2587-2400, Published by AccScience Publishing
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