Does religious involvement affect mortality in low-income Americans? A prospective cohort study

Objective This study aimed to evaluate the impacts of various forms of religious involvement, beyond individual socioeconomic status, lifestyle factors, emotional well-being and social support, on all-cause and cause-specific mortality in socioeconomic disadvantaged neighbourhoods.Design This is a p...

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Main Authors: Wei Zheng, Wanqing Wen, David Schlundt, Shaneda Warren Andersen, William J Blot
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2019-07-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/7/e028200.full
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author Wei Zheng
Wanqing Wen
David Schlundt
Shaneda Warren Andersen
William J Blot
author_facet Wei Zheng
Wanqing Wen
David Schlundt
Shaneda Warren Andersen
William J Blot
author_sort Wei Zheng
collection DOAJ
description Objective This study aimed to evaluate the impacts of various forms of religious involvement, beyond individual socioeconomic status, lifestyle factors, emotional well-being and social support, on all-cause and cause-specific mortality in socioeconomic disadvantaged neighbourhoods.Design This is a prospective cohort study conducted from 2002 through 2015.Settings This study included underserved populations in the Southeastern USA.Participants A total of nearly 85 000 participants, primarily low-income American adults, were enrolled. Eligible participants were aged 40–79 years at enrolment, spoke English and were not under treatment for cancer within the prior year.Results We found that those who attended religious service attendance >1/week had 8% reduction in all-cause death and 15% reduction in cancer death relative to those who never attended. This association was substantially attenuated by depression score, social support, and socioeconomic and lifestyle covariates, and further attenuated by other forms of religious involvement. This association with all-cause mortality was found being stronger among those with higher socioeconomic status or healthier lifestyle behaviours.Conclusion Our results indicate that the association between religious services attendance >1/week and lower mortality was moderate but robust, and could be attenuated and modified by socioeconomic or lifestyle factors in this large prospective cohort study of underserved populations in the Southeastern USA.
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spelling doaj-art-43c6862d27f949c9b0ac1e423420e8c42024-11-23T00:50:08ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552019-07-019710.1136/bmjopen-2018-028200Does religious involvement affect mortality in low-income Americans? A prospective cohort studyWei Zheng0Wanqing Wen1David Schlundt2Shaneda Warren Andersen3William J Blot4Clinical Research Center for Reproduction and Genetics in Hunan Province, Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of CITIC-XIANGYA, Changsha, Hunan, China1 Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA1 Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA2 Division of Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, USA1 Division of Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USAObjective This study aimed to evaluate the impacts of various forms of religious involvement, beyond individual socioeconomic status, lifestyle factors, emotional well-being and social support, on all-cause and cause-specific mortality in socioeconomic disadvantaged neighbourhoods.Design This is a prospective cohort study conducted from 2002 through 2015.Settings This study included underserved populations in the Southeastern USA.Participants A total of nearly 85 000 participants, primarily low-income American adults, were enrolled. Eligible participants were aged 40–79 years at enrolment, spoke English and were not under treatment for cancer within the prior year.Results We found that those who attended religious service attendance >1/week had 8% reduction in all-cause death and 15% reduction in cancer death relative to those who never attended. This association was substantially attenuated by depression score, social support, and socioeconomic and lifestyle covariates, and further attenuated by other forms of religious involvement. This association with all-cause mortality was found being stronger among those with higher socioeconomic status or healthier lifestyle behaviours.Conclusion Our results indicate that the association between religious services attendance >1/week and lower mortality was moderate but robust, and could be attenuated and modified by socioeconomic or lifestyle factors in this large prospective cohort study of underserved populations in the Southeastern USA.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/7/e028200.full
spellingShingle Wei Zheng
Wanqing Wen
David Schlundt
Shaneda Warren Andersen
William J Blot
Does religious involvement affect mortality in low-income Americans? A prospective cohort study
BMJ Open
title Does religious involvement affect mortality in low-income Americans? A prospective cohort study
title_full Does religious involvement affect mortality in low-income Americans? A prospective cohort study
title_fullStr Does religious involvement affect mortality in low-income Americans? A prospective cohort study
title_full_unstemmed Does religious involvement affect mortality in low-income Americans? A prospective cohort study
title_short Does religious involvement affect mortality in low-income Americans? A prospective cohort study
title_sort does religious involvement affect mortality in low income americans a prospective cohort study
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/7/e028200.full
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