Intercessory prayer on anxiety or spiritual coping in women with breast cancer: integrative review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.9789/2175-5361.rpcfo.v17.14103Keywords:
Women's health, Breast neoplasms, Faith healing, Religion and medicine, AnxietyAbstract
Objective: To analyze in the scientific literature the effects of intercessory prayer on anxiety and/or spiritual-religious coping in women with breast cancer. Method: Integrative review in the information sources LILACS, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase and Google Scholar, using controlled and non-controlled terms, specific to each information source, associated with the Boolean operators “OR” and “AND”. Results: 533 studies were identified, of which five met the inclusion criteria. The findings were organized into three categories: effects of intercessory prayer on anxiety; effects of intercessory prayer on spiritual-religious coping; formats for intercessory prayer (face-to-face and distance). It was found that intercessory prayer helps to reduce anxiety symptoms, strengthen positive spirituality and promote emotional reorganization. Conclusion: Intercessory prayer has had a significant impact on women coping with breast cancer, especially by reducing anxiety and mediating religious-spiritual coping.
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