Religion, Spirituality, and Health Service Use by Older Hospitalized Patients

Background: Religious and spiritual beliefs and practices are common among medical inpatients, and may impact length of hospital stay (LOS) and other health services (HSU) during hospitalization. Methods: 812 consecutively admitted patients age 50 or over to Duke University Medical Center were asses...

Description complète

Enregistré dans:  
Détails bibliographiques
Publié dans:Journal of religion and health
Auteurs: Koenig, Harold G. 1951- (Auteur) ; Meador, Keith G. (Auteur) ; George, Linda K. (Auteur) ; Titus, Patricia (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
Vérifier la disponibilité: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
En cours de chargement...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Publié: Springer Science + Business Media B. V. [2003]
Dans: Journal of religion and health
Sujets non-standardisés:B Spirituality
B length of hospital stay
B Religion
B use of health services
Accès en ligne: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Description
Résumé:Background: Religious and spiritual beliefs and practices are common among medical inpatients, and may impact length of hospital stay (LOS) and other health services (HSU) during hospitalization. Methods: 812 consecutively admitted patients age 50 or over to Duke University Medical Center were assessed. Measures of religiousness and spirituality included religious TV/radio (RTV), self-rated religiousness (SRR), observer-rated spirituality (ORS), and daily spiritual experiences (DSE). The primary outcome was LOS. Results: RTV and SRR predicted longer LOS, whereas ORS and DSE predicted shorter LOS (p = 0.05). Effects of RTV onLOS were stronger among women, but explained by worse health status. The effects of DSE on LOS were stronger among non-whites. Among those reporting high DSE, diagnostic tests and total procedures also tended to be less common. Conclusions: Religious activities, attitudes, and spiritual experiences are weak predictors of LOS and HSU during hospitalization. Whether the prediction is positive or negative depends on the religious or spiritual characteristic.
ISSN:1573-6571
Contient:Enthalten in: Journal of religion and health
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1023/A:1025812726644