Religious Attendance and Survival

Good news for those who attend church: We will live longer than if we did not worship.

Objective & Design:The purpose of the study was to examine religious attendance as a predictor of survival in older adults. A probability sample of 3,968 community-dwelling adults aged 64-101 years residing in the Piedmont of North Carolina was surveyed in 1986 as part of the Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE) program of the National Institutes of Health.

Attendance at religious services and a wide variety of socio demographic and health variables were assessed at baseline. Vital status of members was then determined prospectively over the next six years (1986-1992). Time (days) to death or censoring in days was analyzed using a Cox proportional hazards regression model.

Findings:During a median 6.3-year follow-up period, 1,777 subjects (29.7%) died.
Of the subjects who attended religious services once a week or more in 1986 (frequent attenders), 22.9% died 37.4% of those attending services less than once a week (infrequent attenders).

The relative hazard (RH) of dying for frequent attenders was 46% less than for infrequent attenders (RH 0.54, 95% CI 0.48-0.61),

· strongest in women but also present in men
equivalent to wearing vs. not wearing seat belts in auto accidents.
· equivalent to that of not smoking cigarettes vs. smoking.

When demographics, health conditions, social connections, and health practices were controlled, this effect remained significant for the entire sample for both women and men.

Investigators concluded that older adults, particularly women, who attend religious services at least once a week appear to have a survival advantage over those attending services less frequently.

For more information, contact Harold G. Koenig koenig@geri.duke.edu