Religiosity/Spirituality and Mortality

Yoichi Chida, Andrew Steptoe, Lynda H. Powell

2009-01-01reviewPsychotherapy and Psychosomatics409 citationsclosed

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology Religion and Society Interactions Workplace Spirituality and Leadership

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The relationship between religiosity/spirituality and physical health has been the subject of growing interest in epidemiological research. We systematically reviewed prospective observational cohort studies of the association between this potentially protective psychological factor and mortality using meta-analytic methods. METHODS: We searched general bibliographic databases: Medline, PsycINFO, Web of Science and PubMed (up to 20 March, 2008). Two reviewers independently extracted data on study characteristics, quality, and estimates of associations. Random effects meta-analyses, subgrouping, and sensitivity analysis were performed. RESULTS: There were 69 studies (28 articles) and 22 studies (11 articles) investigating the association between religiosity/spirituality and mortality in initially healthy populations and diseased populations, respectively. The results of the meta-analyses showed that religiosity/spirituality was associated with reduced mortality in healthy population studies (combined hazard ratio = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.76-0.87, p <0.001), but not in diseased population studies (combined hazard ratio = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.94-1.01, p = 0.19). Notably, the protective effect of religiosity/spirituality in the initially healthy population studies was independent of behavioral factors (smoking, drinking, exercising, and socioeconomic status), negative affect, and social support. We divided studies according to the aspects of religiosity/spirituality measure examined, and found that organizational activity (e.g. church attendance) was associated with greater survival in healthy population studies. Multi-dimensional aspects were related to survival in both the healthy and diseased populations. Religiosity/spirituality was negatively associated with cardiovascular mortality in healthy population studies. CONCLUSIONS: The current review suggests that religiosity/spirituality has a favorable effect on survival, although the presence of publication biases indicates that results should be interpreted with caution.

Citations in this library

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 409 citations exist upstream.

References

1997Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test

1986Meta-analysis in clinical trials

2000Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology A Proposal for Reporting

2005The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success?

1999Improving the quality of reports of meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials: the QUOROM statement

2004Handbook of Religion and Health

2005Does positive affect influence health?

2005Religious coping and psychological adjustment to stress: A meta-analysis

Cited by

2015Religious and spiritual interventions in mental health care: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials

2017Incorporating the cultural diversity of family and close relationships into the study of health.

2017Religious Communities and Human Flourishing

2010Spiritual needs of patients with chronic pain diseases and cancer - validation of the spiritual needs questionnaire

2018Associations of Religious Upbringing With Subsequent Health and Well-Being From Adolescence to Young Adulthood: An Outcome-Wide Analysis

2016Attendance at Religious Services, Prayer, Religious Coping, and Religious/Spiritual Identity as Predictors of All-Cause Mortality in the Black Women's Health Study