Spiritual Growth in Patients with Type II Diabetes Mellitus: A Qualitative Study

Background: The investigation of spiritual growth and its dimensions in the diabetic patients can help these individuals adjust to the stressful event of this disease. Regarding this, the present study aimed to explore the spiritual growth and its dimensions in the patients with type II diabetes mellitus. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted on the adult patients with a history of at least one year of type II diabetes mellitus, who referred to the Diabetes Clinic of the Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ardabil, Iran, using an interpretive phenomenological approach. The sampling was performed using the purposive sampling and the data was collected through semi-structured interview. Each interview was transcribed verbatim and analyzed based on the Van Manen’s method. Results: The data analysis led to the emergence of 237 codes, 3 main themes, and 7 subthemes. The basic themes included tendency to spirituality, God-centeredness, and moral growth. Conclusion: As the findings of this study indicated, the diabetic patients had turned to spirituality more than ever and used it as a powerful tool to cope with their disease. The emerging new categories highlighted the new aspects of diabetes consequences that can help develop the concept of spirituality in the nursing science, and also have clinical applications in this discipline. The care providers can take advantage of these findings to enhance the patients’ spiritual growth and improve their compliance with the stressful events of diabetes.