A prática religiosa e a percepção do sofrimento: um estudo em doentes com cancro e em doentes com dor crónica

In a holistic approach to the sick Person, with emphasis in spiritual dimension, the purpose of the present exploratory study is to check if the religious practice, in oncological patients and in chronic pain patients, decreases the suffering perception. For data collecting, the following instruments were applied: Socio-Demographic and Clinical Questionnaire; EVA Pain; IESSD; Portuguese Version of IPC; Portuguese version of HADS; Thermometer of Suffering and Visual Analogical Scale of Confidence in Health Care Team. The target population was composed by adult oncological patients and chronic pain patients with ages between 18 and 79 years old, in clinic treatment. It was verified that religious practice does not decrease the suffering perception, but it indicated the more they suffer, the more religious practice they have. In what concerns gender, age, civic status and schooling, these factors have influence in the suffering of the patients, though in different dimensions, namely at psychological suffering, socio-relational or physical. It was conclusive too that patients with chronic pain have more perception of suffering than the oncological patients.