SynthesisCancer2015
Religion, spirituality, and physical health in cancer patients: A meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Cancer, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 130 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
130 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 364 citations in OpenAlex.
- Spirituality and Medicine in the USA, Europe, and the UK: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Integrative Approaches to Patient Satisfaction, Quality of Life, and Health Outcomes.Journal of religion and health · 2026Pooled it
- The development of the Religious Health Interventions in Behavioural Science (RHIBS) Taxonomy: a scientific classification of religious practices in health.Translational behavioral medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Does Religiosity/Spirituality Play a Role in Function, Pain-Related Beliefs, and Coping in Patients with Chronic Pain? A Systematic Review.Journal of religion and health · 2022Pooled it
- Religiosity/Spirituality and Physiological Markers of Health.Journal of religion and health · 2020Pooled it
- Are religion and spirituality barriers or facilitators to treatment for HIV: a systematic review of the literature.AIDS care · 2017Pooled it
- A meta-analytic approach to examining the correlation between religion/spirituality and mental health in cancer.Cancer · 2015Pooled it
- The Effect of Religious-Spiritual Psychotherapy on Illness Perception and Inner Strength among Patients with Breast Cancer in Iran.Journal of religion and health · 2022Trial
- Randomized Controlled Trial Study of the Impact of a Spiritual Intervention on Hope and Spiritual Well-Being of Persons with Cancer.Investigacion y educacion en enfermeria · 2021Trial
- Religious Coping in Cancer: A Quantitative Analysis of Expressive Writing Samples From Patients With Renal Cell Carcinoma.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2020Trial
- Examining the effect of peer helping in a coping skills intervention: a randomized controlled trial for advanced gastrointestinal cancer patients and their family caregivers.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2018Trial
- Why is Meaning-Centered Group Psychotherapy (MCGP) effective? Enhanced sense of meaning as the mechanism of change for advanced cancer patients.Psycho-oncology · 2018Trial
- Associations Between Religiosity, Symptoms, and the Quality of End of Life for Cardiovascular Disease Patients.Circulation reports · 2026Article
- FICA and HOPE in Clinical Care: A Narrative Review Comparing 2 Spiritual Screening Tools Used by Physicians.The Permanente journal · 2026Review
- Cultural Adaptation and Preliminary Assessment of the Italian Version of the FICA© Spiritual History Tool in the context of End-Of-Life Cancer Patients.Journal of religion and health · 2026Article
- The Impact of Spirituality, Religiosity, and Quality of Life on the Survival of Patients with Head-and-Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Brazil: A Cohort Study.Journal of religion and health · 2026Article
- It Takes a Village: Sources of Spiritual Care in Hospice That Support the Well-being of African-American Hospice Patients and Their Caregivers in the USA.Journal of religion and health · 2026Article
- What is 'Spiritual Health'? A Survey of Social Prescribers in the United Kingdom.Journal of religion and health · 2026Article
- Religious and Spiritual Behaviors Correlated with Mental and Physical Well-Being Among American Muslims within the Twin Cities.Journal of religion and health · 2026Article
- Medication Adherence in Women with Early-Stage Breast Cancer and Active Parenting Responsibilities: The Mediating Role of Parenting Stress and Spiritual Well-Being.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Article
- Comparison of Black and/or Hispanic Cancer Patients' Experiences in Virtual Tobacco Treatment.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
70 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 8 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Although religion/spirituality (R/S) is important in its own right for many cancer patients, a large body of research has examined whether R/S is also associated with better physical health outcomes. This literature has been characterized by heterogeneity in sample composition, measures of R/S, and measures of physical health. In an effort to synthesize previous findings, a meta-analysis of the relation between R/S and patient-reported physical health in cancer patients was performed. A search of PubMed, PsycINFO, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and the Cochrane Library yielded 2073 abstracts, which were independently evaluated by pairs of raters. The meta-analysis was conducted for 497 effect sizes from 101 unique samples encompassing more than 32,000 adult cancer patients. R/S measures were categorized into affective, behavioral, cognitive, and 'other' dimensions. Physical health measures were categorized into physical well-being, functional well-being, and physical symptoms. Average estimated correlations (Fisher z scores) were calculated with generalized estimating equations with robust variance estimation. Overall R/S was associated with overall physical health (z = 0.153, P < .001); this relation was not moderated by sociodemographic or clinical variables. Affective R/S was associated with physical well-being (z = 0.167, P < .001), functional well-being (z = 0.343, P < .001), and physical symptoms (z = 0.282, P < .001). Cognitive R/S was associated with physical well-being (z = 0.079, P < .05) and functional well-being (z = 0.090, P < .01). 'Other' R/S was associated with functional well-being (z = 0.100, P < .05). In conclusion, the results of the current meta-analysis suggest that greater R/S is associated with better patient-reported physical health. These results underscore the importance of attending to patients' religious and spiritual needs as part of comprehensive cancer care.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.