Religiosity as a predictor of mortality: A retrospective cohort study in 1519 rural citizens in Greece

Objective: Investigating the role of religiosity in mortality.

Design: A retrospective cohort study (mean follow-up period 131.2 ± 30.8 months) in 1519 rural citizens in Greece (57.1% women, mean age 56.9 ± 20.4 years).

Main outcome measures: Measurements included education, disease status, body mass index, lifestyle, sleep-quality and self-rated health (SRH). Religiosity was assessed as composite score of praying and church attendance. Cox proportional hazard models were used to calculate adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.

Results: A total of 293 deaths were recorded, 59.2% of which had occurred due to cardiovascular diseases, followed by cancer diseases (17%). All-cause mortality was found increased for older people (aHR: 1.10, 95%CI: 1.08–1.11, p < .0001), for males (aHR: 1.44, 95%CI: 1.14–1.83, p = .002), for people reporting good SRH (aHR: .66, 95%CI: .51–.87, p = .003). Moreover, with increasing age the practice of regular exercise decreases all-causes mortality by approximately 3.5% by each year. Participants in the moderate category of religiosity were found to have decreased risk for all-cause mortality (aHR: .61, 95%CI: .46–.83, p = .001) compared to those in the low religiosity category. Cardiovascular mortality was also significantly associated with SRH and religiosity.

Conclusion: Religiosity predicts mortality, in a rural population in Greece. Deciphering the mediators of religiosity and mortality relationship could facilitate future health policies.