Does Islamic spiritual program lead to successful aging? A randomized clinical trial.

CONTEXT: Successful aging is a pattern of aging that has gained much attention during recent years. One factor that has a negative impact on successful aging variables is hypertension. The phenomenon of aging when accompanied with hypertension promotes spiritual needs. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the Islamic spiritual program on successful aging in elderly patients with hypertension who were referred to health centers of Isfahan, Iran, in 2014.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This study was a randomized clinical trial.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The participants (52 elderly patients with hypertension) were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. While the control group received training related to health promotion, the Islamic spiritual program was implemented in the experimental group for eight sessions in two health centers of Isfahan. The data collection tools consisted of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire developed by Goldberg and the satisfaction with life scale developed by Diener. The questionnaires were completed in three steps; pretest, posttest, and follow-up (1-month).

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software version 20 and Chi-square, independent t-test, and repeated measures ANOVA.

RESULTS: Statistical tests showed that the mean score of general health and life satisfaction of the experiment group had a meaningful difference from that of the control group in the posttest stage (P < 0.001). This difference was also meaningful in the follow-up stage (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: The results of the study indicated the effectiveness of an Islamic spiritual program on successful aging variables.