Longevity vs. religiosity

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

How does our religiosity compare with other risks dictating our longevity? A

new

paper suggests that it matters a fair bit, but is more important for the ladies.

An introduction, first, may be the not pdf-available:

Strawbridge WJ, Cohen RD, Shema SJ.

Comparative strength of association between religious attendance and survival.

Int J Psychiatry Med. 2000;30(4):299-308.

PMID: 11308034

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=pubmed & dopt=Abstra\

ct & list_uids=11308034 & query_hl=25

Now, there is the data from the pdf-available paper that suggests that religion

is a

big, but not the biggest, factor.

Age matters more. Losing a spouse is a small not significant risk. Education

matters more for men, maybe because it is more important to them? Smoking

matters

much. High blood pressure is little risk. Functional abilities matter much,

but

depression does not. Taking more drugs is more risky for the ladies.

Religiosity

mattered as a middling risk, comparatively, it seems.

Teinonen T, Vahlberg T, Isoaho R, Kivela SL.

Religious attendance and 12-year survival in older persons.

Age Ageing. 2005 Jul;34(4):406-9. No abstract available.

PMID: 15955764

.... Table 1. Results of univariate and multivariate regression analyses for

mortality in men (n =424) and in women (n =588)

-----------------------------------------

----Men Women

------------------------------

----Univariate analysis Multivariate analysis Univariate analysis Multivariate

analysis

............................................................

P value HR a 95% CI b P value HR a 95% CI b P value HR a 95% CI b P value HR a

95%

CI b

............................................................

Age <0.001 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001

85+ 3.6 1.8–7.1 3.3 1.6–6.9 7.3 4.5–12 4.2 2.5–7.0

75–84 2.9 2.2–3.8 2.7 2.0–3.6 3.4 2.6–4.4 2.2 1.6–3.0

65–74 1 1 1 1

Marital status <0.001 0.154 <0.001 0.081

Widowed or divorced 1.8 1.3–2.5 1.3 0.9–1.8 2.0 1.5–2.6 1.3 1.0–1.7

Married or unmarried 1 1 1 1

Education <0.001 0.039 <0.001 0.248

Less than 6 years basic education 2.0 1.3–3.0 1.6 1.0–2.4 1.9 1.3–2.8 1.3

0.9–1.9

6 years basic education or more 1 1 1 1

Smoking 0.231 0.004 0.698 0.025

Yes 1.2 0.9–1.8 1.7 1.2–2.5 1.1 0.6–2.2 2.2 1.1–4.4

No 1 1 1 1

Hypertension 0.792 0.499 0.549 0.812

Yes 1.0 0.8–1.4 1.0 0.8–1.3 0.9 0.7–1.2 1.0 0.7–1.3

No 1 1 1 1

Coronary heart disease <0.001 0.003 <0.001 0.643

Yes 2.0 1.5–2.7 1.6 1.2–2.2 1.7 1.3–2.3 1.1 0.8–1.5

No 1 1 1 1

Functional abilities <0.001 0.028 <0.001 <0.001

Lowered 2.3 1.7–3.0 1.4 1.0–1.9 3.6 2.7–4.9 2.1 1.5–3.0

High 1 1 1 1

Depression <0.001 0.142 0.084 0.613

Yes 1.7 1.3–2.4 1.3 0.9–1.8 1.3 1.0–1.8 1.1 0.8–1.5

No 1 1 1 1

Number of medications <0.001 0.086 <0.001 <0.001

5 3.2 2.2–4.7 1.6 1.0–2.6 4.0 2.6–6.1 1.8 1.1–2.8

1–4 1.8 1.3–2.5 1.4 1.0–2.0 1.3 0.9–2.0 0.9 0.6–1.4

0 1 1 1 1

Religious attendance 0.930 0.624 0.006 0.031

6 times a year 0.9 0.6–1.4 0.8 0.6–1.2 0.6 0.5–0.9 0.7 0.5–1.0

1–5 times a year 1.0 0.7–1.3 0.9 0.7–1.3 0.7 0.5–0.9 0.7 0.5–1.0

0 times a year 1 1 1 1

-----------------------------

a HR, hazard ratio

b CI, confidence interval.

Al Pater, PhD; email: old542000@...

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