 |
A Prayer A Day Keeps the Doctor Away
Soldiers testify there are no atheists to be found in foxholes, and professors can't find'em on examination day either. So it should come as no surprise that you won't find many of'em in hospitals either. Increasing numbers of studies are demonstrating that one's religious belief may keep you out of the hospital. But if by chance the faithful are hospitalized, their length of stay appears to be a lot shorter than those of the faithless.
Older patients with some religious link sliced hospital stays more than half, according to a study conducted at Duke University Medical Center. Patients age 60 or older with no religious affiliation spent an average of 25 days in the hospital compared to 11 days for patients with some religious denomination.
Additionally, researchers found that religious affiliation also lowered the probability of being hospitalized. Patients who attended religious services once a week or more were 56% less likely to have been hospitalized the previous year compared with those who attended less frequently. After controlling for factors like age, physical functioning, and severity of illness, patients who attended religious services weekly or more were still 43% less likely to have been hospitalized in the last year.
Finding a factor like religious commitment that drastically cuts frequency and length of hospital stays among the elderly has potential huge cost saving benefits, the study indicated. Nationally, people 60 and over enter the hospital twice as often as younger adults. The elderly account for almost 50% of all short hospital stays, even a decade before the 76 million baby boomers start reaching 65. Already Medicare costs skyrocketed from $38 billion in 1980 to $170 billion in 1995, according to the American Hospital Association.
Why might a patient's religious link help slash stays? Religion may help people cope and thus hasten recovery, the researchers noted. One study showed that up to 40% of persons over age 60 point to religion as their primary way to cope with stress when hospitalized. Less depression among those with personal faith may also help cut stays.
AgeVenture News Service | Close Window | |