Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Relationship Between Religious Service Attendance and Coronary Heart Disease and Related Risk Factors in Saskatchewan, Canada

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Religion and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Research suggests that attending religious services could provide small yet important protective benefits against coronary heart disease (CHD) and CHD risk factors (e.g., diabetes, hypertension). The extent to which these benefits apply to Canada deserves study because approximately one-third of adult Canadians attend religious services at least monthly. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the association between frequency of religious service attendance and prevalence of (1) CHD, (2) diabetes, and (3) hypertension in Canada. We used the Saskatchewan sample (n = 5,442) of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS-4.1) and built multivariable logistic regression models to evaluate associations between religious service attendance and self-reported CHD, diabetes, and hypertension. After controlling for demographic, socioeconomic and health behavior variables, the association between religious service attendance and prevalence of CHD was not significant (OR = 0.82; 95 % CI 0.61–1.11). However, persons who attended religious services more than once a week exhibited lower prevalence odds of diabetes (OR = 0.60; 95 % CI 0.45–0.80) and hypertension (OR = 0.82; 95 % CI 0.68–0.99) compared to persons who attended less than once a year. The findings of this study are the first to suggest religious service attendance may be associated with a lower prevalence of CHD risk factors in Canada.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ano, G. G., & Vasconcelles, E. B. (2005). Religious coping and psychological adjustment to stress: A meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61, 461–480.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beland, Y. (2002). Canadian community health survey-methodological overview. Health Report, 13, 9–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatters, L. M. (2000). Religion and health: Public health research and practice. Annual Review of Public Health, 21, 335–367.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chatters, L. M., Levin, J. S., & Ellison, C. G. (1998). Public health and health education in faith communities. Health Behavior & Education, 25, 689–699.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eagle, D. E. (2011). Changing patterns of attendance at religious services in Canada, 1986–2008. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2010.01559.x.

  • Gillium, R. F. (2006). Frequency of attendance at religious services, hypertension, and blood pressure: the third national health and nutrition examination survey. Psychosomatic Medine, 68, 382–385.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldbourt, U., Yaari, S., & Medalie, J. H. (1993). Factors predictive of long-term coronary CHD mortality among 10,059 male Israeli civil servants and municipal employees: A 23-year mortality follow-up in the Israeli Ischemic CHD Study. Cardiology, 82, 100–121.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, T. W., Kaplan, B. H., Cornon-Huntley, J. C., James, S. A., Becker, C., Hames, C. G., et al. (1978). Frequency of church attendance and blood pressure elevation. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 1(1), 37–40.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hummer, R. A., Rogers, R. G., Nam, C. B., & Ellison, C. G. (1999). Religious involvement and US adult mortality. Demography, 36, 271–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, M. P., Morgan, A., Bonnefoy, J., et al. (2007). The social determinants of health: developing an evidence base for political action (measurement and evidence knowledge network). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, G. J., Kelman, H. R., Thomas, C., & Chen, J. (1996). The relation of religious preference and practice to depressive symptoms among 1,855 older adults. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Science and Social Sciences, B51, P301–P308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, D. E., Mainous, A. G., & Pearson, W. S. (2002). C-reactive protein, diabetes and attendance at religious services. Diabetes Care, 25(7), 1172–1176.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • King, D. E., Mainous, A. G., Steyer, T. E., & Pearson, W. (2001). The relationship between attendance at religious services and cardiovascular inflammatory markers. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 31, 415–525.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, H. G., George, L. K., Hays, J. C., Larson, D. B., Cohen, H. J., & Blazer, D. G. (1998). The relationship between religious activities and blood pressure in older adults. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 28, 189–213.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Larson, D. B., Koenig, H. G., Kaplan, B. H., Greenberg, R. S., Logue, E., & Tyroler, H. A. (1998). The impact of religion on men’s blood pressure. Journal of Religion and Health, 28(4), 265–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, D. S., Chiu, M., Manuel, D. C., et al. (2009). Trends in risk factors for cardiovascular disease in Canada: Temporal, socio-demographic and geographic factors. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 181(3–4), E55–E66.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Matthews, D. A., MCCullough, M. E., Larson, D. B., Koenig, H. G., Swyers, J. P., & Milano, M. (1998). Religious commitment and health status: A review of the research and implications for family medicine. Archives of Family Medicine, 7, 118–124.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maxwell, S. E., & Cole, D. A. (2007). Bias in cross-sectional analyses of longitudinal mediation. Psychological Methods, 12(1), 23–44.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McCullough, M. E., Hoyt, W. T., Larson, D. B., & Koenig, H. G. (2000). Religious involvement and mortality: A meta-analytic review. Health Psychology, 19, 211–222.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morrow, D. A., & Ridker, P. M. (2000). Risk factor modification for cardiac disease: C-reactive protein, inflammation, and coronary risk. Medical Clinics of North America, 84(149–161), 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oman, D., Kurata, J. H., Strawbridge, W. J., & Cohen, R. D. (2002). Religious attendance and cause of death over 31 years. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 32, 69–89.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Public Health Agency of Canada. (2005). Integrated strategy on healthy living and chronic disease. Available from http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/media/nr-rp/2005/2005_37bk3-eng.php. Accessed 2010/09/13.

  • Public Health Agency of Canada. (2009). Tracking heart disease and stroke in Canada. Available from http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/2009/cvd-avc/index-eng.php. Accessed 2010/09/13.

  • Raina, P. S., Wolfson, C., Kirkland, S. A., Griffith, L. E., Oremus, M., Pattersonm, C., et al. (2009). The Canadian longitudinal study on aging (CLSA). Canadian Journal of Aging, 28, 221–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, N. A., Woflson, M. C., Dunn, J. R., Berthelot, J. M., Kaplan, G. A., & Lynch, J. W. (2001). Relation between income inequality and mortality in Canada and in the United States: Cross sectional assessment using census data and vital statistics. British Medical Journal, 320(7239), 898–902.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, D. B. (1987). Multiple imputation for nonresponse in surveys. New York: Wiley.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Canada. (2007a). Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) 2007. Microdata files. User guide. Available from http://www.statcan.ca/english/sdds/document/3226_D7_T9_V4_E.pdf. Accessed 2008/10/23.

  • Statistics Canada. (2009). 2006 Census: Portrait of the Canadian Population in 2006: Findings. Available from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?catno=97-550-XWE2006001&lang=eng. Accessed 2008/10/23.

  • Stokols, D. (1996). Translating social ecological theory into guidelines for community health promotion. American Journal of Health Promotion, 10, 282–298.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Strawbridge, W., Shema, S., Cohen, R., & Kaplan, G. (2001). Religious attendance increases survival by improving and maintaining good health behaviors, mental health, and social relationships. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 23, 68–74.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tanuseputro, P., Manual, D. G., Leung, M., et al. (2003). Risk factors for cardiovascular disease in Canada. Canadian Journal of Cardiology, 19, 1249–1259.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Xu, X., Weiss, S. T., Rijcken, B., & Schoute, J. P. (1994). Smoking, changes in smoking habits, and rate of decline in FEV1: New insight into gender differences. European Respiratory Journal, 7(6), 1056–1061.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yusuf, S., Hawken, S., Ounpuu, S., et al. (2004). Effect of potentially modifiable risk factors associated with myocardial infarction in 52 countries (the INTERHEART study): case–control study. Lancet, 364, 937–952.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Ananya Tina Banerjee & Mark Oremus

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Michael H. Boyle

  3. Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Sonia S. Anand

  4. School of Nursing, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Patricia H. Strachan

Authors
  1. Ananya Tina Banerjee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michael H. Boyle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sonia S. Anand
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Patricia H. Strachan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Mark Oremus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ananya Tina Banerjee.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Banerjee, A.T., Boyle, M.H., Anand, S.S. et al. The Relationship Between Religious Service Attendance and Coronary Heart Disease and Related Risk Factors in Saskatchewan, Canada. J Relig Health 53, 141–156 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-012-9609-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-012-9609-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation