en Oncology Oncology Original Research Original Research <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="font-style:italic"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">Background: </span></span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">Both coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) and cancer place a heavy burden on the society and mental health of patients. Spiritual health may play a prominent role in coping with stressful conditions. Considering the existing controversy regarding the correlation between spiritual health and stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic in cancer patients, this study aimed to assess the correlation between spiritual health and COVID-19 stress in cancer patients.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>Methods:</b> This cross-sectional study was conducted on cancer patients presenting to Rasoul and Firouzgar Hospitals, affiliated with Iran University of Medical Sciences, in 2022. After obtaining written informed consent, eligible patients filled out the spiritual health questionnaire and COVID Stress Scale (CSS). Data were analyzed by the Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients and one-way ANOVA.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>Results:</b> The mean (SD) levels of COVID-19 stress and spiritual health were equal to 106.5 (44.5) and 26.2 (10.9), respectively, which are regarded as moderate levels. An inverse correlation of -0.48 was found between spiritual health and COVID-19 stress (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> < 0.001). Spiritual health decreased by an increase in the stage of cancer (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> < 0.001). The mean COVID-19 total stress score and its domain scores [except for the post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) domain] were significantly higher in patients with poor spiritual health compared with those with good spiritual health. However, the difference in this regard was not significant between patients with poor and moderate spiritual health (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> > 0.05). </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>Conclusion:</b> This study confirmed the prominent role of spiritual health in the reduction of COVID-19 stress. Promotion of spiritual health in cancer patients should be considered as an inseparable part of patient care to prevent disease aggravation and decrease the stress level of cancer patients, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> &nbsp; Cancer, COVID-19, Health, Pandemics 590 596 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-5079-6&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Ali Arash Anoushirvani Anoush_aa@yahoo.com 200319475328460089438 200319475328460089438 No Department of Hematology and Oncology, School of Medicine, Firoozgar Clinical Research Development Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Seidamir Pasha Tabaeian aptabaiyan@gmail.com 200319475328460089439 200319475328460089439 No Department of Internal Medicine, Colorectal Research Center, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Minoo Maarefi maarefiminoo@gmail.com 200319475328460089440 0009-0007-7223-3187 No Department of Internal Medicine, Firoozgar Hospital, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Samira Basir Shabestari shabestari.s@iums.ac.ir 200319475328460089441 200319475328460089441 Yes Department of ENT and Head and Neck, Firoozgar Hospital, School of Medicine, ENT and Head and Neck Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran