 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Natasha Davis, MSW, Mailman School of Public Health, Dept of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University, 722 W. 168 Street, New York, NY 10032, 212-305-7023, nd251@columbia.edu
INTRODUCTION: In recent years a growing literature has provided strong empirical evidence linking religiosity and health outcomes. However information about the effects of religiosity on the health of persons infected with HIV is limited. The purpose of this report is to examine religion and spirituality among persons living with HIV / AIDS in New York City and the extent to which public health professionals should identify it as a valuable resource. METHODS: The data were collected as part of the Community Health Advisory & Information Network Project, an ongoing longitudinal study funded since 1994 by the City’s Title I Health and Human Services Planning Council. All CHAIN interviews are conducted in person by trained interviewers. We restricted analysis to the continuing cohort who were interviewed at each of the more recent interview periods: Wave 5, 1998, to Wave 7, 2001 (n=382). 80% are African American, 63% are Latino and 12% are white. All participants are at least 20 years of age. Religiosity was assessed with organizational, non-organizational and subjective variables: belief in God or a higher power; membership in a religious organization; frequency of attendance to religious services; how often they pray; and how important are spiritual beliefs. RESULTS: Religiosity and spirituality differed by race/ethnic groups in our sample with African-American scoring higher on the religiosity and spirituality scales, followed by Latino’s and then whites. Religiosity appeared to have more of an effect on mental health than physical health and functioning. After adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, CD4 count and use of a HAART combination, there was substantial effect of religious participation on reduced mortality (hazard ratio = 0.63, p< .05). CONCLUSIONS: As other researchers have noted, more research is needed to document the potential influences spiritual factors have on immune function, health status, disease progression, and quality of life among persons with HIV/AIDS. The results do tell us that as individuals progress with living with HIV/AIDS they continue to have strong religious and spiritual beliefs. Spirituality should be considered among other factors affecting outcomes for people that are HIV positive.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Religion,
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.