The Association between Spirituality and Dental Pain Tolerance/Control among the Elderly in Sari, Iran

Taheri, Masoumeh; Jabbareh, Leila; Nasseri, Farzaneh; Izadi, Amirreza; Farrokhnejad, Abbas; Ilali, Ehteram Alsadat; Fendersky, Afsaneh; Pedram, Pegah; Papi, Shahab

doi:10.22087/ijac.2025.507896.1051

The Association between Spirituality and Dental Pain Tolerance/Control among the Elderly in Sari, Iran

Document Type : Research

Authors

Masoumeh Taheri ¹

Leila Jabbareh ²

Farzaneh Nasseri ¹

Amirreza Izadi ¹

Abbas Farrokhnejad ²

Ehteram Alsadat Ilali ³

Afsaneh Fendersky ⁴

Pegah Pedram ⁵

Shahab Papi ⁶

¹ Geriatric Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

² Dental Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

³ Department of Gerontology Nursing, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

⁴ Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sari, Iran

⁵ Department of Midwifery, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran

⁶ Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran

10.22087/ijac.2025.507896.1051

Abstract

Dental disorders are often associated with pain and discomfort, particularly during the sensitive life stage of old age. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between spiritual well-being and dental pain tolerance/control among elderly individuals attending the Tooba Dental Clinic in Sari, Iran, in 2023. A total of 240 elderly patients (aged ≥60 years) were selected through convenience sampling. Data collection involved a demographic questionnaire, a visual analog scale (VAS), and a standardized spiritual well-being questionnaire assessing religious and existential health. The findings indicated that the participants had a mean age of 65.87±3.39 years, with mean scores for spiritual well-being and pain severity of 71.8±3.12 and 5.27±0.07, respectively. An inverse correlation was identified between spiritual well-being and dental pain severity among the elderly (P<0.05), which remained significant in multivariate regression analysis after adjusting for other factors. This suggests that spiritual well-being plays a role in reducing pain perception. In conclusion, the results highlight the importance of spiritual well-being as a factor in regulating pain perception, advocating for the integration of spirituality-based interventions with conventional dental treatments as a complementary approach to managing geriatric dental pain.

Keywords

Spirituality

Pain

Oral Health

Elderly

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