African-Americans and female seniors who are deeply religious or spiritual may be less likely than others their age to enter a nursing home, according to a Duke University study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Duke researchers studied 811 hospital patients ages 50 and older. Those who reported the most religious activities, such as prayer and Bible reading, and “spiritual experiences” spent less time in a nursing home or rehabilitation center over 15 months. Those reporting a lot of religious activity spent fewer than 12 days in long-term care, compared with nearly 27 days among patients who reported the fewest private religious practices.
Lead author Dr. Harold G. Koenig, a researcher at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC, said there seems to be a connection between religious and spiritual beliefs and health, though the reasons are not totally clear – especially since the same positive effects were not found among white men in the study. Koenig noted that religiously active people have a stronger social network than their peers.
