Religious Attendance and Cause of Death over 31 Years

Doug Oman · John H. Kurata · William J. Strawbridge · Richard. D. Cohen

189 citations0/0 files storedThe International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine

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Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology Religion and Society Interactions Health disparities and outcomes

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Frequent attendance at religious services has been reported by several studies to be independently associated with lower all-cause mortality. The present study aimed to clarify relationships between religious attendance and mortality by examining how associations of religious attendance with several specific causes of death may be explained by demographics, socioeconomic status, health status, health behaviors, and social connections. METHOD: Associations between frequent religious attendance and major types of cause-specific mortality between 1965 and 1996 were examined for 6545 residents of Alameda County, California. Sequential proportional hazards regressions were used to study survival time until mortality from circulatory, cancer, digestive, respiratory, or external causes. RESULTS: After adjusting for age and sex, infrequent (never or less than weekly) attenders had significantly higher rates of circulatory, cancer, digestive, and respiratory mortality (p < 0.05), but not mortality due to external causes. Differences in cancer mortality were explained by prior health status. Associations with other outcomes were weakened but not eliminated by including health behaviors and prior health status. In fully adjusted models, infrequent attenders had significantly or marginally significantly higher rates of death from circulatory (relative hazard [RH] = 1.21, 95 percent confidence interval [CI] = 1.02 to 1.45), digestive (RH = 1.99, p < 0.10, 95 percent CI = 0.98 to 4.03), and respiratory (RH = 1.66, p < 0.10, 95 percent CI = 0.92 to 3.02) mortality. CONCLUSIONS: These results are consistent with the view that religious involvement, like high socioeconomic status, is a general protective factor that promotes health through a variety of causal pathways. Further study is needed to determine whether the independent effects of religion are mediated by psychological states or other unknown factors.

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References

1988Social Relationships and Health 1998The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory Research Practice 2001Handbook of Religion and Health 1994Socioeconomic status and health: The challenge of the gradient.1998The Religion-Health Connection: Evidence, Theory, and Future Directions 1982THE ASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND ACTIVITIES WITH MORTALITY: PROSPECTIVE EVIDENCE FROM THE TECUMSEH COMMUNITY HEALTH STUDY 2000Religious involvement and mortality: A meta-analytic review.1999Religious involvement and U.S. adult mortality

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2008Frequency of Attendance at Religious Services and Mortality in a U.S. National Cohort 2011Forgive to Live: Forgiveness, Health, and Longevity 2005RELIGION AND HEALTH: A REVIEW AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS 2002‘Does Religion Cause Health?’: Differing Interpretations and Diverse Meanings 2004Religious Involvement and Adult Mortality in the United States: Review and Perspective 2017

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