The relationship between religion and cardiovascular outcomes and all-cause mortality in the women's health initiative observational study

Abstract

Some studies suggest that religiosity may be related to health outcomes. The current investigation, involving 92,395 Women's Health Initiative Observational Study participants, examined the prospective association of religious affiliation, religious service attendance, and strength and comfort from religion with subsequent cardiovascular outcomes and death. Baseline characteristics and responses to religiosity questions were collected at enrollment. Women were followed for an average of 7.7 years and outcomes were judged by physician adjudicators. Cox proportional regression models were run to obtain hazard ratios (HR) of religiosity variables and coronary heart disease (CHD) and death. After controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, and prior health variables, self-report of religious affiliation, frequent religious service attendance, and religious strength and comfort were associated with reduced risk of all-cause mortality [HR for religious affiliation = 0.84; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.75-0.93] [HR for service attendance = 0.80; CI: 0.73-0.87] [HR for strength and comfort = 0.89; CI: 0.82-0.98]. However, these religion-related variables were not associated with reduced risk of CHD morbidity and mortality. In fact, self-report of religiosity was associated with increased risk of this outcome in some models. In conclusion, although self-report measures of religiosity were not associated with reduced risk of CHD morbidity and mortality, these measures were associated with reduced risk of all-cause mortality.

The distinct roles of spirituality and religiosity in physical and mental health after collective trauma: a national longitudinal study of responses to the 9/11 attacks

“…The absence of a relation is similar to two recent studies (Feinstein et al 2010;Schnall et al 2010), and extends the null result to the context of a collective trauma. The variability across studies and the difficulty in finding an association suggest that if there is any effect on cardiovascular ailments, it may be specific to religious or spiritual variables not measured in these studies, or that there is a moderating factor that needs to be identified.…”

“…However, the evidence is not conclusive. Lower levels of religious service attendance have been related to higher rates of death from circulatory disease (e.g., Oman et al 2002), but recent work indicates that spirituality and religiosity do not relate to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality (Feinstein et al 2010;Schnall et al 2010). Little work has examined musculoskeletal ailments and religious variables.…”

The Experience of Overseas Nurses Caring for Muslim Patients in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Uae: A Qualitative Study

“…The literature has clearly supported the benefits of religion on human wellbeing, while an extensive number of studies have revealed that religion has a valuable or protective effect on a variety of health outcomes (Chatters, 2000;Curlin et al, 2007;Ellison and Levin, 1998;Hall and Mdi, 2006;Jarvis and Northcott, 1987;Jones, 2004;Musick et al, 2000;Schnall et al, 2008). The predominant place of religion in health and illness was a constant theme in these studies and patients' views were strongly influenced by their religious convictions.…”

Religion and healthy lifestyle behaviors among postmenopausal women: the women’s health initiative

“…A recent meta-analysis also reported higher levels of religious involvement were associated with a reduction in cardiovascular mortality of up to 28% (Chida et al, 2009). However, such findings have not been observed among participants in two large studies of cardiovascular health, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (Feinstein, Liu, Ning, Fitchett, & Lloyd-Jones, 2010) and the Women's Health Initiative (Schnall et al, 2008). The limited available evidence also suggests that more frequent worship attendance is not associated with reductions in cancer mortality (Chida et al, 2009;Hummer et al, 1999;Oman et al, 2002).…”

“…In the research about religious involvement and physical health, one of the most well-established findings is the existence of an inverse relationship between different measures of religious involvement and all-cause mortality (Enstrom & Breslow, 2008;Gillum, King, Obisesan, & Koenig, 2008;House, Robbins, & Metzner, 1982;Hummer, Rogers, Nam, & Ellison, 1999;Kark et al, 1996;Koenig et al, 1999;McCullough, Hoyt, Larson, Koenig, & Thoresen, 2000;Schnall et al, 2008;Strawbridge, Cohen, Shema, & Kaplan, 1997).…”