Validation of an instrument to assess the meaning in suffering: a methodological study

Suffering is a complex, multidimensional and individual experience extensively described in literature concerning different life and health conditions, but often reduced to a physical perspective as a symptom. The relationship between suffering and meaning in life led to the development of measurement tools such as it is the case of the Meaning in Suffering Test (MIST). Additionally, recent studies have awakened the interest in the spiritual dimension and meaning in life lived by people with a reproductive health-condition, such as infertility. Only one Portuguese study validated such tool in a sample of Portuguese patients with chronic rheumatic pain.