Nurses Frequently Attending Church Live Longer

The Harvard-based Nurses' Health Study has been a remarkably productive longitudinal health study.

My wife has been a subject in this study and frequently completes interval questionnaires regarding her health status.

A recent publication looked at the relationship between religious service attendance and mortality in the Nurses's Health Study cohort.

This manuscript tried to provide a more valid look at the relationship between religiosity/spirituality and health. Previous studies have found a link between church attendance and longer life but these studies were vulnerable to reverse causation confounding.

Mortality rates over a 20 year period were reduced in a scaled manner compared to those control subjects who id not attend church by the following amounts:

• Attends church less than once per week: 13% lower mortality
• Attends church once per week: 26% lower mortality
• Attends church more than once per week: 33% lower mortality

Potentially confounding factors that were controlled included diet, physical activity, smoking status and body mass index.

The research team suggests church attendance rates may be a proxy for social support, a factor known to influence mortality risk.

Read more about this study at the ScienceDaily website HERE.

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Photo of willet birds on seashore is from the my files.

Li, S., Stampfer, M., Williams, D., & VanderWeele, T. (2016). Association of Religious Service Attendance With Mortality Among Women JAMA Internal Medicine DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.1615