Impact of spiritual beliefs and faith-based interventions on diabetes management

Table 1 Empirical results on the impact of spiritual beliefs on diabetes management

Ref.	Study objective	Method/sample	Result
Darvyri et al[9]	To evaluate the impact of spirituality/religiosity on. T2DM management and to summarize the evidence regarding T2DM outcomes, as they are related to religiosity or spirituality of people with diabetes	A qualitative study (cross-sectional)	The results showed a positive relationship between religiosity/spirituality and improved T2DM management. It also suggests that participation in church and spiritual beliefs had ameliorating effects on stress levels and thus, on glycemic control of these patients with diabetes
Irajpour et al[29]	To explore the spiritual aspects of care for chronic Muslim patients	A qualitative-descriptive exploratory study was conducted in Isfahan, Iran, on a purposive sample of 25 participants, including patients, caregivers, nurses, physicians, psychologists, social workers, and religious counselors	The spiritual aspects of care for chronic Muslim patients fell into four main themes. Among the four major themes was the religious aspect, including doing religious rituals, attention to religious values, and providing the possibility of performing religious practices. The second theme is the pastoral aspect, which consisted of giving consultation for finding the meaning of life/death, achieving intellectual transcendence, and improving the patient's communication with herself/himself and others
Amadi et al[37]	To assess the association between religiosity, religious coping in depression and diabetes mellitus, and selected socio-demographic variables (age, gender and occupational status)	Cross-sectional study (simple random sampling)	Participants in this study varied in their use of religion to cope with the stress of living with diabetes mellitus or depression according to their socio-demographic profile. Younger people with depression and diabetes used religious resources and religious coping methods to the same extent
Adejumo et al[38]	This study aimed to relate the psychosocial effects ofreligion and culture with the awareness, knowledge and attitude of Nigerians regarding diabetes prevention and care	Cross-sectional study (multi-centered random sampling)	Neglecting diabetes: 42% thought that if diabetes was neglected it could lead to kidney failure, and 23% thought it could lead to heart failure. Only 0.3% thought that neglecting diabetes could result in limb amputation 49% of patients would consult a doctor if they were ill, 43% would talk to family members, and 5% to their religious leaders. There were 7% who said they would comply with religious leaders in the management of diabetes. In terms of disease prevention, 7% of the participants would value their religious leaders
Heidarzadeh et al[39]	To explore the spiritual growth and its dimensions in the patients with type II diabetes mellitus	A qualitative study was conducted on adult patients with a history of at least one year of type II diabetes mellitus	The data analysis led to the emergence of 237 codes, three main themes, and seven subthemes. The primary themes included a tendency to spirituality, God-centeredness, and moral growth
Watkins et al[40]	To investigate the relationship among spiritual and religious beliefs and practices, social support, and diabetes self-care activities in African Americans with type 2 diabetes, hypothesizing that there would be a positive association	A cross-sectional design that focused on baseline data from a larger randomized control trial in132 participants: most were women, middle-aged, obese, single, high school educated, and not employed	Significant relationships between spiritual and religious beliefs and practices and general diet. Additional significant relationships were found for social support with general diet, specific diet, and foot care
Martinez et al[41]	To examined client opinions about, and experiences with religious interventions in psychotherapy	A sample of 152 clients at acounselling center of a University sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saintscompleted a survey with ratings of specific religious interventions with regards toappropriateness, helpfulness, and prevalence	Out-of-session religious interventions were considered more appropriate by clients than in-session religious interventions, but in-session interventions were rated as more helpful

T2DM: Type 2 diabetes mellitus.