Quality of life (QOL), supportive care, and spirituality in hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) patients

For many patients, a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) can be challenging to physical and emotional health. Supportive care needs can be overwhelming for many patients and families. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of quality of life (QOL), spiritual well-being, and supportive care resources post-HSCT. This descriptive, repeated-measures study included people over the age of 18 years undergoing HSCT for any cancer diagnosis. The Functional Assessment in Cancer Therapy—Bone Marrow Transplant scale, the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy—Spiritual—12 scale, and a resource questionnaire were administered prior to HSCT and following HSCT at 30, 60, 90, and 180 days. Three groups of HSCT patients were examined: allogeneic, autologous, and overall. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and correlations. In the sample ( n = 159), the autologous HSCT group reported the highest QOL scores. Spirituality scores increased for the autologous HSCT group at 90 days, but decreased for the overall and allogeneic groups. The type of supportive care resources most used were information from the physician and nurse , the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Support as the most used form of support group, and Faith, Prayer and Spiritual Healing . QOL and spiritual well-being scores correlated best at 180 days (6 months) for autologous and allogeneic patients.