Sakineh Ramezanli, Zahra Jahani, Farzad Poorgholami, Fatemeh Forozan Jahromi

Abstract

Background and Aims: Cancer patients suffer from high degrees of psychological disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and disease incompatibility. Spiritual intelligence is one of the factors affecting mental health that can calm the person, especially in stressful situations. Happiness is also important to improve the symptoms of the disease. The present study was conducted to determine the relationship between spiritual intelligence and happiness in cancer patients. Methods: This study was a descriptive-analytical study, that undertaken in 2014, on  200 cancer patients referring to Tehran University of Medical Sciences' hospitals by using simple random sampling. Data were collected using patients' demographic questionnaires, the "King" Spiritual Intelligence score, and the "Oxford" happiness questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20, t-test and Pearson correlation. Results: The mean of the total score of spiritual intelligence and happiness was 97.22 ± 9.64 and 120.2 ± 9.18, respectively. The results indicated a significant direct correlation between spiritual intelligence and happiness in cancer patients. (P=0.000, r =0.518). Conclusion: According to our findings, Improving Spiritual Intelligence In patients with cancer may lead to increasing their level of happiness. Therefore, it is suggested that authorities and stakeholders pay special attention to the issue of spiritual intelligence and its promotion approaches‎.