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Cited by 87Religion, Spirituality, and PsychologyReligion and Society InteractionsCardiac Health and Mental Health

The Relationship between Attendance at Religious Services and Cardiovascular Inflammatory Markers

King, Dana E., Mainous, Arch G., Steyer, Terrence E., Pearson, William·2001·The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine
DOI 10.2190/f4mp-klye-ved4-3ldd
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Abstract

Objective: Previous studies have shown an association between attendance at religious services and health, particularly cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Little research has focused on religious attendance and physiological markers of cardiovascular risk. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between religious attendance and inflammatory markers of cardiovascular risk. Method: Nationally representative sample of non-institutionalized United States adults aged 40 and over derived from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III 1988–1994 ( n = 10,059). The main outcome measures were the inflammatory system markers C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, and white blood cell count. Results: 40.8 percent of the population attended religious services 40 or more times in the previous year while 22.4 percent attended services less than 40 times and 36.8 percent attended no religious services at all. Non-attenders of religious services were more likely than attenders to have elevated white blood cell counts ( p = .001), highly elevated C-reactive protein ( p = .02), and elevated fibronogen ( p = .05). After adjusting for demographic variables, health status, and BMI, the association between religious attendance and cardiovascular markers remained. Once current smoking was added to the model the independent effect of religious attendance dropped below conventional confidence limits. Conclusions: These findings suggest that people who have attended religious services in the previous year are less likely to have elevated levels of certain inflammatory markers, however, current smoking has significant shared variance with religious attendance.

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  • Of 16 cardiovascular function studies, 11 (69%) reported that R/S was significantly related to positive cardiovascular functions or outcomes or to lower levels of inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein and fibrinogen.

    “Of those, 11 studies (69%) reported that R/S was significantly related to positive cardiovascular functions or outcomes [367–374] or to lower levels of inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein [375–377] and fibrinogen [378] that place individuals at high risk for cardiovascular disease.”

    From Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications (2012) · cites this paper as [368]

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Authors
King, D. E., Mainous, A. G., Steyer, T. E., & Pearson, W.
Affiliations
Medical University of South Carolina (US)
ORCID
Venue
The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2001-12
Volume
31
Issue
4
Pages
415-425
ISSN
  • 0033-278X (ISSN-L)
  • 0091-2174
  • 1541-3527
DOI
10.2190/f4mp-klye-ved4-3ldd
OpenAlex
W2090295050
Cited by
87
References
30
Citations by year
2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 3 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 3
FWCI
2.11
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
U.S. Public Health Service (ID12HP00023-01)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Religion and Society Interactions
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiac Health and Mental Health
Keywords
religious service attendance, religious participation, cardiovascular risk, inflammatory markers, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, white blood cell count, smoking, cardiovascular inflammation, older adults
MeSH terms
Adult, C-Reactive Protein, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Fibrinogen, Humans, Leukocyte Count, Male, Middle Aged, Religion, Biomarkers, Inflammation Mediators

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