Living on a prayer: religious affiliation and trauma outcomes

Research has shown that religious affiliation is associated with reduced all cause mortality. The aim of this study was to determine if religious affiliation predicts trauma-specific mortality and length of stay. Patients admitted to our urban Level I trauma center in 2008 were examined; the main study categorization was based on endorsement of a specific religious affiliation during a standard intake procedure. Bivariate and multivariate analysis was performed with in-hospital mortality and length of stay as the outcomes of interest, adjusting for demographic and injury severity characteristics. A total of 2303 patients were included in the study. Forty-six per cent endorsed a religious affiliation. Patients with a religious affiliation were more likely to be female, Hispanic, and older than those who reported no affiliation (P < 0.001). There was no difference in length of hospital stay. On bivariate analysis those without religious affiliation were more likely to die (P = 0.01), but this difference disappeared after adjusting for covariates. Although we could not identify a statistical association between religious affiliation and mortality on multivariate analysis, there was an association with injury severity suggesting religious patients were less severely injured.