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Secular reverence predicts shorter hospital length of stay among middle-aged and older patients following open-heart surgery

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Abstract

This study explored the role of both traditional religiousness and of experiencing reverence in religious and secular (e.g., naturalistic, moralistic) contexts in postoperative hospital length of stay among middle-aged and older patients undergoing open-heart surgery. Reverence was broadly defined as “feeling or attitude of deep respect, love, and awe, as for something sacred.” Information on demographics, faith factors, mental health, and medical comorbidities was collected from 400 + patients (age 62 ± 12) around 2 weeks before surgery via personal interview. Standardized medical indices were retrieved from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons’ national database. Hierarchical multiple regression showed that reverence in secular contexts predicted shorter hospitalization, after controlling for key demographics, medical indices, depression, and psychosocial protectors. Other hospital length of stay predictors included female gender, older age, more medical comorbidities, low left ventricular ejection fraction, long perfusion time, and coronary bypass graft surgery. Secular reverence exerts a protective impact on physical health.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by grants from the National Institute on Aging Grant 1 RO3 AGO 15686-01, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Grant P50 AT00011, the John Templeton Foundation, and the Hartford Geriatric Faculty Scholar Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work and Department of Family Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 2028 Cathedral of Learning, 4200 Fifth Ave, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

    Amy L. Ai

  2. Department of Psychology, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, USA

    Paul Wink

  3. Dexter, MI, USA

    Marshall Shearer

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  1. Amy L. Ai
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  2. Paul Wink
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Correspondence to Amy L. Ai.

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Ai, A.L., Wink, P. & Shearer, M. Secular reverence predicts shorter hospital length of stay among middle-aged and older patients following open-heart surgery. J Behav Med 34, 532–541 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-011-9334-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-011-9334-8

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