218052 Western Buddhists' religious and health beliefs and practices

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 : 8:45 AM - 9:00 AM

William H. Wiist, DHSc, MPH , College of Health & Human Services, Professor, Northern AZ University, Flagstaff, AZ
Bruce M. Sullivan, PhD , Department of Comparative Cultural Studies, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
Diane Marie M. St. George, PhD , University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
Heidi Wayment, PhD , Department of Psychology, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
Western Buddhism has been of growing interest to scholars in the U.S. but most studies have been historical narrative accounts with few quantitative studies of Buddhists' religious practices and beliefs. No epidemiological studies of Buddhists' health have been published. A web survey of Buddhist religious practices and beliefs, medical history and health practices was conducted with 886 Buddhist respondents. Eighty-two percent of respondents were residents of the U.S.A. Eighty-six percent were converts to Buddhism and had been a Buddhist for a median of 9 years. Ninety-nine percent practiced Buddhist meditation and 70% had attended a formal retreat for intensive meditation practice. Sixty-eight percent of respondents rated their health as very good or excellent and 13% smoked cigarettes. Logistic regression analysis of scores on a Buddhist Devoutness Index (BDI) and health practices showed that a one point increase on the BDI was associated with a 15% increase in the odds of being a non-smoker and an 11% increase in the odds of being in good to excellent health. Survey participants were strong adherents of Buddhism, in good health and generally followed the health practices recommended by official health agencies. While study methodology limits making generalizations this study provides unique information about the health of a large sample of Western Buddhists and confirms some information found in other quantitative studies about Buddhist religious practices. Additional research is needed to further validate the BDI, and additional quantitative studies about Buddhists' health are needed, including studies in which biomedical data is collected.

Learning Objectives:
Describe at least three religious practices followed by Western Buddhists State an association found between devout Western Buddhists religious practices and health practices.

Keywords: Religion, Health Behavior

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have studied, conducted research about and taught graduate courses about the relationship between spirituality/religion and health. I was the PI on the research reported here.
Any relevant financial relationships? Yes

Name of Organization Clinical/Research Area Type of relationship
Northern Arizona University health Received grant funds to conduct the research reported here.

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.