Smoking Prevalence Among Users of Primary Healthcare Units in Brazil: The Role of Religiosity

Religious affiliation and oral health-related quality of life: a cross-sectional study based on a nationally representative survey in Germany

BACKGROUND

Studies have shown an association between a person's religiosity, and physical as well as psychological, health status. However, results differ between certain religious affiliations. While good oral health is important for our overall health and wellbeing, research on religious affiliation and oral health status, specifically oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL), is lacking. Thus, our aim was to investigate the association between religious affiliation and OHRQoL.

METHODS

A nationally representative online survey (n = 3,075 individuals) was conducted in August/September 2021. The mean age was 44.5 years (SD: 14.8 years, 18 to 70 years) and 51.1% of the individuals were female. OHRQoL was measured using the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-G5). Religious affiliation served as key explanatory variable. Several covariates were included in regression analyses.

RESULTS

Regressions revealed that compared to individuals with no religious affiliation, individuals belonging to Christianity had poorer OHRQoL (β = 0.31, p < 0.01), individuals belonging to Islam had poorer OHRQoL (β = 2.62, p < 0.01) and individuals belonging to another religious affiliation also had poorer OHRQoL (β = 1.89, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Our study demonstrated an association between religious affiliation and OHRQoL. Individuals with specific religious affiliations should be addressed to avoid low OHRQoL.

Religiosity and Attitudes towards Health, Disease, Death and the Use of Stimulants among Jehovah's Witnesses

Religiosity is considered as one of the many factors shaping an individual's health consciousness. The aim of the study is an analysis of the correlation between the religiosity of Jehovah's Witnesses and their attitudes towards health and disease. A cross-sectional study was performed on the convenience sample of 171 Jehovah's Witnesses from eastern Poland with the use of two research tools: the author's questionnaire, focusing on attitudes towards health, disease, death and the use of stimulants, and the Duke University Religion Index (DUREL). The research involved 99 females (57.9%) and 72 males (42.1%), with an average age of 37.25 (SD = 12.59) years. On average, they have been a Jehovah's Witness for 29.21 (SD = 13.22) years and are characterised by a high ratio of organisational religious activity (ORA) (M = 5.60; SD = 0.62) and intrinsic religiosity (IR) (M = 4.81; SD = 0.37). Those who had never smoked before becoming one of Jehovah's Witnesses had a higher IR (Z = -2.822; p = 0.005), similarly to those respondents who smoked cigarettes before they became Jehovah's Witnesses (Z = -2.977; p = 0.003) and those who did not abuse alcohol before they became Jehovah's Witnesses (Z= -1.974; p = 0.048). Jehovah's Witnesses are a group characterised by a high degree of consistency when it comes to religiosity, attitudes regarding health and disease and health behaviours. This means that they follow the teachings of their religion with regard to health issues. Knowledge about the association between religiosity and health behaviours is important to provide effective health education, health promotion and development of health prevention policy, specifically when dealing with more religious groups of clients.

Smoking and Religion: Untangling Associations Using English Survey Data

While factors affecting smoking are well documented, the role of religion has received little attention. This national study aims to assess the extent to which religious affiliation is associated with current-smoking and ever-smoking, controlling for age, sex, ethnicity and socio-economic status. Variations between adult and youth populations are examined using secondary analysis of individual-level data from 5 years of the Health Survey for England for adult (aged >20, n = 39,837) and youth (aged 16-20, n = 2355) samples. Crude prevalence statistics are contrasted with binary logistic models for current-smoking and ever-smoking in the adult and youth samples. Analyses suggest that Muslims smoke substantially less than Christians. Highest levels of smoking characterise people not professing any religion. Associations between smoking and the Muslim religion attenuate to statistical insignificance in the face of ethnic and socio-economic factors. An association between smoking and the absence of a religious affiliation is sustained. An understanding of the association between smoking and religion is essential to the development of tobacco control programmes.

Religiosity and patterns of alcohol consumption among users of primary healthcare facilities in Brazil

Abstract Background A number of studies have been reported on the role of religiosity in health beliefs and behaviors. Objective The objective of this cross-sectional study is to examine the association between religious involvement and patterns of alcohol consumption in a large representative sample of users of primary healthcare facilities in Ribeirão Preto, Southeast Brazil. Method Data were collected through personal interviews. Religiosity was measured using the Duke University Religion Index (DUREL) and the alcohol consumption was measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) questionnaire. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations between the participant characteristics, the AUDIT risk levels, and the drinking groups. Results The sample was composed of 841 women with a mean age of 39.5 years old and 214 men with a mean age of 45.1 years old. A significant relationship between patterns of alcohol consumption and the multiple dimensions of religiosity was detected, such as religious affiliation, religious practices, self-perception of the level of religiosity and the ORA, NORA and IR components of DUREL. Lower levels of drinking risk were detected among religious individuals and among those who practice their religions compared to individuals who have no religion and/or non-practicing individuals, respectively. Conclusion A lifestyle motivated by religious concerns is associated with alcohol use habits among the Brazilian users of the public healthcare facilities.

Family Religiosity and Oral Health Related Quality of Life: a Multilevel Analysis in Brazilian Schoolchildren

Abstract Religiosity has been associated with a better dental condition and positive self-perception of health, but there are no studies on the relationship between religious practice and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL), especially among schoolchildren. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the association between family religiosity and OHRQoL in 12-year-old schoolchildren. We conducted a cross-sectional study in a representative sample of 12-year-old schoolchildren from Santa Maria, a city in southern Brazil. A total of 1,134 schoolchildren were assessed in a randomly selected in 20 public schools in the city. Participants were examined by 4 calibrated dentists (minimum Kappa-value for intra and inter-examiner agreement were 0.79 and 0.77, respectively) according to dental caries (Decayed, Missed, Filled Teeth Index), and gingival bleeding (Community Periodontal Index criteria). OHRQoL was assessed by the Brazilian short version of Child Perceptions for Questionnaire (CPQ11-14). Parents or guardians answered a structured questionnaire regarding their socioeconomic status and religious practice. Data were analyzed using multilevel Poisson regression analysis to assess the association of religiosity and overall and domain-specific CPQ 11-14 scores. Religious practice less than once a week was associated with higher mean symptoms domain scores and higher mean CPQ 11-14 overall scores in schoolchildren. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that family religiosity was positively associated with schoolchildren’s OHRQoL.