Two researchers from the Duke University Medical Center have published a study which indicates that older patients with some religious link are far less likely to be hospitalized than their non-religious peers.
The study, published in the Southern Medical Journal says that patients aged 60 or older with no religious affiliation spent an average of 25 days in the hospital, compared to 11 days for patients with some religious association. The researchers also found that religious affiliation lowered the probability of being hospitalized at all. Folks who attended religious services once a week were 56% less likely to have been hospitalized the previous year, compared with those that attended less frequently.
The study controlled for factors like age, physical functioning, severity of illness, etc. Overall it found that patients who attended religious services weekly were 43% less likely to have been hospitalized.
WALLY'S COMMENT ... That's significant stuff. Right now people who are 60 and over are twice as likely to be hospitalized as younger adults. Today, the elderly (those over 65) account for almost 50% of all short hospital stays. And the baby boom generation is just beginning to enter the prime hospitalization years.
Is it religion that does it? I suspect there's a correlation of moderate and sensible lifestyle with the pattern of church attendance. And I believe it's that moderate and sensible lifestyle that does it. But maybe that's not all. Consider the following.
A 1988 study at the University of California at San Francisco found that patients recovering from heart surgery recover more quickly if someone is praying for them. The interesting thing in this study is that while the patients were divided into a group that was prayed for and a group that was not, the patients were not told which group they were in.
Another study used a national medical database that tracked lives of 21,204 US adults from 1987 to 1995. That study found regular involvement with religious groups to be a strong predictor of longer life span.
Another study looked at 5000 people in Alameda County, California found that those that attended church regularly were 25% less likely to die during the 28 year span of the study.
There are certainly positive effects of just being a member of a supportive group. A supportive church group could provide those effects.
And clearly belief has power. If a person believes that a force, such as God, is working to help them, it improves their confidence in the outcome.
I got to watch that first hand with my mother. Mom was diagnosed with lymphoma. The doctors gave her six months to live. She told them she wasn't finished yet and prayed for strength daily. Every few months one physician or another would solemnly tell mom that this couldn't go any longer and she would die soon. Twelve years later she died.
Was it faith keeping her alive? Partly, I think. Also a strong will. Also a lot of loving support.
The fact is that we don't know about the total role that faith and religion plays in people's lives, including health, wellness and recovery. But more and more scientific studies are confirming what pastors and grandmothers seem to have always known. There's something there.
My own bias is pretty simple. As a man of faith, I believe that our faith does have an effect. But I believe it has that effect primarily by helping us act in ways that are good for us and others. Prayer and meditation help me to be a peace with myself, and they help me to provide support for others.
I expect that the next few years will bring us many studies on this as we investigate the links between body, mind and spirit and the role of faith in modern life and modern lives.
This article originally appeared in Wally Bock's Briefing Memo newsletter in 1999.
Reviewed: 2/15/03
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