Effect of Comfort Care Integrated with the Holy Qur’an Recitation on Comfort of Muslim Patients under Mechanical Ventilation: A Pilot Study

Background: Most patients experience decreased physical, psychosocial, and spiritual comfort while receiving mechanical ventilation. Regarding the Muslim patients, diminished comfort might be associated with alterations in performing daily rituals, such as saying prayers (salat) and reciting the Holy Qur’an. This pilot study aimed to determine the effects of comfort care integrated with the Holy Qur’an recitation on comfort in Muslim patients being mechanically ventilated.

Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on a group of participants using pretest-posttest design. The samples consisted of ten Muslim patients under mechanical ventilation who met the inclusion criteria. Each participant was provided with the comfort care integrated with the Holy Qur’an recitation for three days. A modified version of Shortened General Comfort Questionnaire was utilized to evaluate comfort of the participants. The data were analyzed by SPSS using paired t-test.

Results: Mean score of total comfort increased significantly after receiving the comfort care integrated with recitation of the Holy Qur’an (t=11.42, p=0). In addition, mean score of each context of comfort (i.e. physical, psychospiritual, environmental, and sociocultural comforts) also augmented significantly post-intervention.

Conclusion: This pilot study showed that the comfort care integrated with the Holy Qur’an recitation can be an effective way of enhancing comfort of Muslim patients under mechanical ventilation.