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Cited by 825Religion, Spirituality, and PsychologyReligion and Society InteractionsHealth disparities and outcomes

Religious involvement and U.S. adult mortality

Hummer, Robert A., Rogers, Richard G., Nam, Charles B., Ellison, Christopher G.·1999·Demography
DOI 10.2307/2648114
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Abstract

We use recently released, nationally representative data from the National Health Interview Survey—Multiple Cause of Death linked file to model the association of religious attendance and sociodemographic, health, and behavioral correlates with overall and cause-specific mortality. Religious attendance is associated with U.S. adult mortality in a graded fashion: People who never attend exhibit 1.87 times the risk of death in the follow-up period compared with people who attend more than once a week. This translates into a seven-year difference in life expectancy at age 20 between those who never attend and those who attend more than once a week. Health selectivity is responsible for a portion of the religious attendance effect: People who do not attend church or religious services are also more likely to be unhealthy and, conse-quently, to die. However, religious attendance also works through increased social ties and behavioral factors to decrease the risks of death. And although the magnitude of the association between religious attendance and mortality varies by cause of death, the direction of the association is consistent across causes.

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Crossref · 10.2307/2648114

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57 of 57 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Of the 18 best studies, three (20%) reported positive relationships (worse pain in the more R/S).

    “Of the 18 best studies, nine (50%) reported inverse relationships (less pain among the more R/S [534] or reduced pain in response to a R/S intervention [535–542]), while three (20%) reported positive relationships (worse pain in the more R/S) [543–545].”

    From Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications (2012) · cites this paper as [544]

  • Evidence from rigorously designed population studies and a seminal meta-analysis suggested an independent association between organizational religiosity (religious service attendance) and CVD mortality.

    “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 Hummer et al., 1999

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Authors
Hummer, R. A., Rogers, R. G., Nam, C. B., & Ellison, C. G.
Affiliations
  • The University of Texas at Austin (US)
  • University of Colorado Boulder (US)
  • Florida State University (US)
ORCID
Venue
Demography
Publisher
Duke University Press
Published
1999-05-01
Volume
36
Issue
2
Pages
273-285
ISSN
  • 0070-3370 (ISSN-L)
  • 1533-7790
DOI
10.2307/2648114
OpenAlex
W1986166543
Cited by
825
References
57
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 67 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 32 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 40 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 44 · 2015: 23 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 32
FWCI
30.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Demography (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Religion and Society Interactions
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
Keywords
religious service attendance, mortality, life expectancy, social ties, religious involvement, cause-specific mortality, church attendance, health behavior, sociodemographic correlates
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cause of Death, Female, Health Status, Humans, Life Expectancy, Male, Middle Aged, Mortality, Religion, Socioeconomic Factors, United States, Models, Statistical, Health Behavior, Multivariate Analysis

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