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Religious involvement and seroprevalence of six infectious diseases in US adults
1Department of Public and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. frank.gillum@gmail.com
Objective:
In the United States, religious practice is inversely associated with several chronic conditions, but no reports show whether it is inversely associated with prevalence of positive serology for infections.
Methods:
Data on a multiethnic, national sample included 11,507 persons aged 17 years and over with complete data on frequency of attendance at religious services (FARS) and serologic testing for six pathogens.
Results:
Even after controlling for multiple confounders, persons attending religious services weekly (19.8%) or more (19.6%) were less likely to be seropositive for herpes simplex type 2 (HSV-2) than those attending less frequently (23.7%) or never (25.1%, P = 0.001). Analyses revealed the association to be partially accounted for by reduced risky sexual behavior and illegal drug use among frequent attenders. No associations were found with three enteric pathogens.
Conclusion:
Infection with HSV-2 and hepatitis C virus (HCV) was inversely associated with FARS, independent of multiple confounders.
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