Perception of patients with COVID-19 about respecting their dignity in hospital settings: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Dignity therapy is a psychotherapy intervention whose main goal is to improve the quality of life, promote spiritual and psychological health, and reduce suffering in people with life-threatening diseases. Deteriorating health status is associated with low perceived dignity. The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with growing concerns about the quality of health care. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the perception of patients with COVID-19 about respecting their dignity in hospital settings and related variables. Patients and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2021, on 206 patients with COVID-19 in hospitals. Patient Dignity Questionnaire (PDI) was used to collect data and descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Results: The mean age of the participants was 54.83 ± 14.98 years and most of them were male (67.5%). The mean score of overall perceived dignity was 69.76 ± 10.62 out of 125. Participants rated 7 out of 25 items as 3 or higher, indicating the importance of these items in the clinical setting. The highest and lowest mean scores were in the dependence (3.28 ± 0.55) and social support (1.49 ± 0.59) subscales, respectively. The mean dignity score was associated with the patients' educational level and gender (p = 0.012) (p = 0.065). Conclusions: Patients with COVID-19 were concerned about respecting their dignity. The study patients were more concerned about the dimensions of symptom distress, existential distress, and dependence. Conducting training workshops on respecting human dignity in patients with COVID-19 can improve nurses' knowledge and skills in this area and promote respect for patient dignity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]