Effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on anxiety and spirituality in patients with cancer undergoing chemotherapy: A cross-sectional study.

person Francisca Fernanda Barbosa Oliveira Hospital Haroldo Juaçaba, Ceará Cancer Institute, Fortaleza, Brazil info_outline Francisca Fernanda Barbosa Oliveira, Rosane Oliveira Sant'Ana, Anna Clara Aragão Matos Carlos, André Alves Crispim, Lívia Moreira Caetano Coelho, Cássia Emanuella Nóbrega Malta, Maria Marcela Fontes Borges, Thuany Pinto Rocha de Souza, Isabelle Joyce de Lima Silva-Fernandes, Clarissa Gondim Picanço-Albuquerque, Lúcio Flávio Gonzaga Silva, Paulo Goberlanio de Barros Silva

Authors person Francisca Fernanda Barbosa Oliveira Hospital Haroldo Juaçaba, Ceará Cancer Institute, Fortaleza, Brazil info_outline Francisca Fernanda Barbosa Oliveira, Rosane Oliveira Sant'Ana, Anna Clara Aragão Matos Carlos, André Alves Crispim, Lívia Moreira Caetano Coelho, Cássia Emanuella Nóbrega Malta, Maria Marcela Fontes Borges, Thuany Pinto Rocha de Souza, Isabelle Joyce de Lima Silva-Fernandes, Clarissa Gondim Picanço-Albuquerque, Lúcio Flávio Gonzaga Silva, Paulo Goberlanio de Barros Silva Organizations Hospital Haroldo Juaçaba, Ceará Cancer Institute, Fortaleza, Brazil, Hosp Do Cancer ICC, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil, Instituto do Câncer do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil, ICC, Fortaleza, Brazil Abstract Disclosures Research Funding No funding received None. Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate anxiety and spirituality levels in oncology patients during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: This short-term cross-sectional study applied a previously validated General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD7) scale and spirituality inventory to 230 patients undergoing antineoplastic chemotherapy during the second wave of COVID-19 in Brazil. The means ± SD of the scales were calculated and correlated (Spearman's rho ). After categorization, chi-square and multinomial regression models were used to identify risk factors (p < 0.05). Results: The levels of anxiety (6.16±5.11) and spirituality (17.22±2.66) were moderately and inversely correlated (p = 0.001, r = -0.212). Women (p = 0.025), fatigue (p = 0.048), and insomnia (p = 0.001) were associated with an increased incidence of anxiety; however, spirituality was associated with a reduced incidence of fatigue (p = 0.032). Death of family or friends due to COVID-19 increased the risk of high levels of anxiety (p < 0.05), while in multivariate analysis, insomnia (p = 0.030) and sleep difficulty (p = 0.031) were also directly associated with anxiety and spirituality reduced the interruption of chemotherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic (p = 0.036). Conclusions: Fear of the COVID-19 pandemic altered the psychoemotional environment of patients undergoing chemotherapy, resulting in increased levels of anxiety. However, spirituality was an important coping strategy in patients undergoing cancer treatment.