Investigating the relationship between spiritual health, social factors and hypochondriasis among students at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Iran

Abstract

Spiritual health represents the last dimension introduced to the overall notion of health and could even be regarded as the most critical dimension. This study investigates spiritual health and social factors associated with it among students at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS). The study was cross-sectional research in which the respondents were 400 enrolled students of different disciplines at SUMS selected through random multistage sampling. Electronic questionnaires were used to collect data. Due to COVID-19 restrictions when the study was conducted in 2021, the classes were held online, and the whole process lasted about two months. The data collected were analyzed in SPSS 19 based on such statistical procedures as mean, standard deviation, independent t-test, and one-way ANOVA. The results revealed that, the students’ spiritual health was generally above average, and based on the respondents’ views, the most important dimensions of spiritual health were “behavior”, “orientation”, and “insight”, respectively. The findings also showed a significant difference in the participants’ spiritual health about their marital status, place of residence, and respective school (P<0.05); Being married, living in rural regions, studying nursing, and having completed fewer semesters could contribute to increased spiritual health. The more semesters the students completed, the less spiritual health they experienced (r=-0.134; P<0.001). The reason for this is that increasing the levels of spiritual health would depend on an individual’s ability to change his/her intellectual insights and emotional orientations. However, these two factors may decline as students begin their academic studies. The level of hypochondriasis was low, and this variable variable was not significantly associated with spiritual health (P>0.05). In response, policymakers must find solutions to this problem by formulating plans that could ideally enhance students’ levels of spiritual health.