Impact of spirituality/religiosity on mortality: comparison with other health interventions

Scientists have been interested in the influence of religion on mortality for at least 130 years. Since this time, many debates have been held by researchers who believe or do not believe in this association. The objective of this study is to compare the impact of spirituality and religiosity (S/R) with other health interventions on mortality. The authors selected 25 well-known health interventions. Then, a search of online medical databases was performed. Meta-analyses between 1994 and 2009 involving mortality were chosen. The same was done for religiosity and spirituality. The combined hazard ratio was obtained directly by the systematic reviews and the mortality reductions by S/R and other health interventions were compared. Twenty-eight meta-analyses with mortality outcomes were selected (25 health interventions and three dealing with S/R). From these three meta-analyses, considering those with the most conservative results, persons with higher S/R had an 18% reduction in mortality. This result is stronger than 60.0% of the 25 systematic reviews analyzed (similar to consumption of fruits and vegetables for cardiovascular events and stronger than statin therapy). These results suggest that S/R plays a considerable role in mortality rate reductions, comparable to fruit and vegetable consumption and statin therapy.