The Greek-Orthodox version of the Brief Religious Coping (B-RCOPE) instrument: psychometric properties in three samples and associations with mental disorders, suicidality, illness perceptions, and quality of life

Background: The B-RCOPE is a brief measure assessing religious coping. We aimed to assess the psychometric properties of its Greek version in people with and without long-term conditions (LTCs). Associations between religious coping and mental illness, suicidality, illness perceptions, and quality of life were also investigated. Methods: The B-RCOPE was administered to 351 patients with diabetes, chronic pulmonary obstructive disease (COPD), and rheumatic diseases attending either the emergency department (N = 74) or specialty clinics (N = 302) and 127 people without LTCs. Diagnosis of mental disorders was established by the MINI. Associations with depressive symptom severity (PHQ-9), suicidal risk (RASS), illness perceptions (B-IPQ), and health-related quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) were also investigated. Results: The Greek version of B-RCOPE showed a coherent two-dimensional factor structure with remarkable stability across the three samples corresponding to the positive (PRC) and negative (NRC) religious coping dimensions. Cronbach’s alphas were 0.91–0.96 and 0.77–0.92 for the PRC and NRC dimensions, respectively. Furthermore, NRC was associated with poorer mental health, greater depressive symptom severity and suicidality, and impaired HRQoL. In patients with LTCs, PRC correlated with lower perceived illness timeline, while NRC was associated with greater perceived illness consequences, lower perceived treatment control, greater illness concern, and lower illness comprehensibility. Conclusions: These findings indicate that the Greek-Orthodox B-RCOPE version may reliably assess religious coping. In addition, negative religious coping (i.e., religious struggle) is associated with adverse illness perceptions, and thus may detrimentally impact adaptation to medical illness. These findings deserve replication in prospective studies

Complementary and Alternative Therapies Used by Turkish Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy

BACKGROUND: Most breast cancer patients use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), usually in parallel with their conventional treatments. This study was planned to determine the prevalence and determining factors for use of CAM by breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This descriptive study was carried out between October 2010 and May 2011, and included 96 patients at the Istanbul University Institute of Oncology. The Patient Characteristics form and Complementary and Alternative Medicine Scale were used for data collection. Descriptive and non-parametric tests were performed, and logistic regression analysis was used to predict factors affecting CAM use. RESULTS: Praying was the most frequently used form of CAM, and most of the herbal supplements used by patients were harmless. Herbal use was higher among patients who had local disease (relative risk (RR) 4.48%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.12–17.95), and worship was more common among those who had not undergone surgery (RR 4.66%, 95% CI 1.64–13.20). CONCLUSION: The CAM approaches used by patients were found to be safe. However, sage and flax seed usage for estrogen-and progesterone-positive patients and exercise for patients with spinal metastasis can be inappropriate approaches. It is important to question and inform patients about CAM use during treatment