The DOI matches its Crossref record; 87 of the 88 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Religiosity/Spirituality and Mortality
Abstract
Background: The relationship between religiosity/spirituality and physical health has been the subject of growing interest in epidemiological research. We systematically reviewed prospective observational cohort studies of the association between this potentially protective psychological factor and mortality using meta-analytic methods. Methods: We searched general bibliographic databases: Medline, PsycINFO, Web of Science and PubMed (up to 20 March, 2008). Two reviewers independently extracted data on study characteristics, quality, and estimates of associations. Random effects meta-analyses, subgrouping, and sensitivity analysis were performed. Results: There were 69 studies (28 articles) and 22 studies (11 articles) investigating the association between religiosity/spirituality and mortality in initially healthy populations and diseased populations, respectively. The results of the meta-analyses showed that religiosity/spirituality was associated with reduced mortality in healthy population studies (combined hazard ratio = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.76–0.87, p <0.001), but not in diseased population studies (combined hazard ratio = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.94–1.01, p = 0.19). Notably, the protective effect of religiosity/spirituality in the initially healthy population studies was independent of behavioral factors (smoking, drinking, exercising, and socioeconomic status), negative affect, and social support. We divided studies according to the aspects of religiosity/spirituality measure examined, and found that organizational activity (e.g. church attendance) was associated with greater survival in healthy population studies. Multi-dimensional aspects were related to survival in both the healthy and diseased populations. Religiosity/spirituality was negatively associated with cardiovascular mortality in healthy population studies. Conclusions: The current review suggests that religiosity/spirituality has a favorable effect on survival, although the presence of publication biases indicates that results should be interpreted with caution.
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“are linked to a number of improved health and health-relevant outcomes among individuals with a variety of conditions such as cardiovascular disease (Chida et al., 2009), cancer (Laubmeier et al., 2004), and substance abuse (Geppert et al., 2007).”
From Advancing our understanding of religion and spirituality in the context of behavioral medicine (2017) · cites this paper as Chida et al., 2009
In the citing paper
“The evidence from rigorously designed population studies and from a seminal meta-analysis suggested the existence of an independent association between organizational religiosity (i.e., religious service attendance) and CVD mortality (Chida et al., 2009; Hummer et al., 1999; Oman et al., 2002).”
From Advancing our understanding of religion and spirituality in the context of behavioral medicine (2017) · cites this paper as Chida et al., 2009
In the citing paper
“Overall, positive associations between RS and CVD were found in studies conducted among younger healthy individuals (Chida et al., 2009; Friedlander et al., 1986; Goldbourt et al., 1993; Hummer et al., 1999; Oman et al., 2002).”
From Advancing our understanding of religion and spirituality in the context of behavioral medicine (2017) · cites this paper as Chida et al., 2009
In the citing paper
“Taken together, the above findings indicate that despite the earlier meta-analytical finding of an independent association between RS and CVD outcomes (Chida et al., 2009), the current evidence linking RS and cardiovascular mortality and morbidity remains inconclusive”
From Advancing our understanding of religion and spirituality in the context of behavioral medicine (2017) · cites this paper as Chida et al., 2009
Citations
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Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test
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Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology<SUBTITLE>A Proposal for Reporting</SUBTITLE>
Stroup, D. F. (2000) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.283.15.2008 · Cited by 20,623
The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success?
Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.803 · Cited by 7,143
Moher, D., Cook, D. J., Eastwood, S., Olkin, I., Rennie, D., & Stroup, D. F. (1999) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(99)04149-5 · Cited by 4,826
Handbook of Religion and Health
Koenig, H. G., McCullough, M. E., & Larson, D. B. (2004) · American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/00019442-200405000-00015 · Cited by 3,262
Does positive affect influence health?
Pressman, S. D., & Cohen, S. (2005) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.925 · Cited by 2,087
Religious coping and psychological adjustment to stress: A meta-analysis
Ano, G. G., & Vasconcelles, E. B. (2005) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.20049 · Cited by 1,627
Conceptualizing religion and spirituality: points of commonality, points of departure
Hill, P. C., Pargament, K. I., Hood, R. W., McCullough, Jr., Swyers, J. P., Larson, D. B., & Zinnbauer, B. J. (2000) · Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour · doi:10.1111/1468-5914.00119 · Cited by 1,623
Chida, Y., & Steptoe, A. (2008) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/psy.0b013e31818105ba · Cited by 1,592
Self-citation
Research works printed but not linked: 6
- 10.1037%2F0003-066X.58.1.36 · DOI · Paper page
- 10.1159%2F000085535 · DOI
- 10.1037%2F0882-7974.13.2.242 · DOI
- 10.1001%2Farchinte.161.15.1881 · DOI · Paper page
- 10.1023%2FA%3A1022904915837 · DOI
- 10.1207%2FS15324796ABM2301_10 · DOI · Paper page
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Religiosity and Vaccine Hesitancy: Evidence From COVID ‐19 Vaccination in Poland
Matuszak, P. (2026) · Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics · doi:10.1111/obes.70048
Pinchas‐Mizrachi, R., Zalcman, B. G., Orr, Z., & Shapiro, E. (2026) · Journal of Religion and Health · doi:10.1007/s10943-026-02585-7
Varkel, L., Goldbourt, U., & Gerber, Y. (2026) · Epidemiologia · doi:10.3390/epidemiologia7020038
Religiosity/Spirituality Association on Oral Diseases: A Systematic Review
da Costa, V. B. A., Filho, W. R. A., Guimarães, L. S., Antunes, L. S., Antunes, L. A., & Assaf, A. V. (2022) · International Journal of Health Sciences (IJHS) · doi:10.15640/ijhs.v10n1a5
Farming Activities Can Effectively Enable Long-Term Care Prevention and Active Aging
Akiyama, A., & Fukuyama, Y. (2026) · JOURNAL OF THE JAPANESE ASSOCIATION OF RURAL MEDICINE · doi:10.2185/jjrm.74.433
Menezes, A. S. D. S., Durães, C. P., Fonseca, L. L., de Magalhães, T. A., Nascimento, J. E., Ruas, G. S. D. S., Souza, A. A., Filho, A. D. P. S., Ribeiro, A. A. A. D. A., de Paula, A. M. B., et al. (2026) · Journal of Religion and Health · doi:10.1007/s10943-026-02655-w · Cited by 1
Ross, E., McKenna, S., & Maguire, A. (2026) · SSM - Population Health · doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2026.101933
Fopka-Kowalczyk, M. J., & Krajnik, M. (2026) · BMC Medical Education · doi:10.1186/s12909-026-09439-6
Metadata
- Authors
- Chida, Y., Steptoe, A., & Powell, L. H.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Rush University Medical Center (US)
- Venue
- Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
- Publisher
- S. Karger AG
- Published
- 2009
- Volume
- 78
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 81-90
- ISSN
- 0033-3190 (ISSN-L)
- 1423-0348
- OpenAlex
- W2019612427
- Cited by
- 409
- References
- 88
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 71 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 32 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 3.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Workplace Spirituality and Leadership
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Religion and Society Interactions
- Keywords
- religiosity, spirituality, mortality, survival, church attendance, cardiovascular mortality, healthy population, publication bias
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Humans, Psychophysiology, Religion, Meditation, Spirituality
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