Exploring efficacy of spiritual-based interventions (SBIs) in addressing depressive symptoms among cardiac patients in MENA region: a scoping review

TL;DR

This review explores how spiritual-based interventions may help reduce depression in cardiac patients in the MENA region.

Contribution

It provides a scoping review of SBIs' efficacy in this specific cultural and medical context.

Findings

Spiritual interventions like prayer and faith-based counseling are linked to reduced depressive symptoms.

Current evidence is limited by small sample sizes and short-term studies.

More research is needed to confirm long-term and cross-cultural effectiveness.

Abstract

Depression is a widespread psychological issue among patients with cardiac diseases, which affects treatment adherence, recovery, and overall quality of life. Spiritual-based interventions (SBIs) have gained attention for their potential to alleviate depressive symptoms. However, there is a dearth of research investigating the efficacy of these interventions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

This scoping review aims to synthesize available evidence on the efficacy of spiritual-based interventions in reducing depressive symptoms among cardiac patients in the MENA region.

The present research used a systematic approach to searching electronic databases such as SCOPUS, Web of Science, and ESBECOhost Arab research world in the English language from 2015 to 2025, based on the Arksey and O'Malley framework. Papers were identified based on spiritual-based Intervention addressing depressive symptoms among cardiac patients in the MENA region. Studies were analyzed using the Population-Concept-Context (PCC) framework, as outlined in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR).

The analysis pinpoints numerous Spiritual Interventions, such as prayer, mindfulness, and Faith-based counseling, as usual practices. The results showed that SBIs are related to a decrease in depression symptomology and enhancement of psychological wellbeing. Nevertheless, variability in the study models, small amounts of samples, and sparse long-term studies are also some of the current study's limitations.

This research indicates that the efficacy of spiritual-based interventions can reduce depressive signs in cardiac patients in the MENA region. However, additional research is required to ascertain long-term efficacy and cross-cultural effectiveness.

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