IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i5p4300-d1083195.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Association of Religious Service Attendance and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms, Cognitive Function, and Sleep Disturbances in All-Cause Dementia

Author

Listed:
  • Katherine Carroll Britt

    (School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA)

  • Kathy C. Richards

    (School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA)

  • Gayle Acton

    (School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA)

  • Jill Hamilton

    (Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA)

  • Kavita Radhakrishnan

    (School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA)

Abstract

Commonly reported in dementia, neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS), cognitive decline, and sleep disturbances indicate dementia progression. With the growing dementia burden, identifying protective factors that may slow dementia progression is increasingly essential. Religion and spirituality are associated with better mental and physical health, yet few studies have been reported in older adults with dementia. This study examines associations between religious service attendance and symptoms of dementia progression. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study in 2000, 2006, and 2008 and the sub-study, Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study in 2001–2003, 2006–2007, and 2008–2009, we examined the association of religious attendance with neuropsychiatric symptoms, cognitive function, and sleep disturbances among U.S. older adults aged 70 years and older with all-cause dementia ( N = 72) using Spearman’s partial Rho correlation controlling for social interaction. Significant associations were identified for religious attendance and NPS (r s (97) = –0.124, 95% CI [–0.129, –0.119], p < 0.0005); cognitive function, r s (97) = –0.018, 95% CI [–0.023, –0.013], p < 0.001); and sleep disturbances, r s (97) = –0.275, 95% CI [–0.280, –0.271], p < 0.0005). Beyond adjusting for social interaction, increased religious attendance was associated with lower NPS, better cognitive function, and fewer sleep disturbances. Clinical trials and longitudinal studies with a larger sample size examining religion and spirituality factors with dementia progression are warranted.

Suggested Citation

  • Katherine Carroll Britt & Kathy C. Richards & Gayle Acton & Jill Hamilton & Kavita Radhakrishnan, 2023. "Association of Religious Service Attendance and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms, Cognitive Function, and Sleep Disturbances in All-Cause Dementia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-13, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:5:p:4300-:d:1083195
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4300/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4300/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yeager, D.M. & Glei, Dana A. & Au, Melanie & Lin, Hui-Sheng & Sloan, Richard P. & Weinstein, Maxine, 2006. "Religious involvement and health outcomes among older persons in Taiwan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(8), pages 2228-2241, October.
    2. Terrence D. Hill & Amy M. Burdette & Jacqueline L. Angel & Ronald J. Angel, 2006. "Religious Attendance and Cognitive Functioning Among Older Mexican Americans," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 61(1), pages 3-9.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Joanna Orr & Mark Ward & Rose Anne Kenny & Christine Ann McGarrigle, 2021. "Mini-mental state examination trajectories after age 50 by religious affiliation and practice in Ireland," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 565-574, December.
    2. Das, Aniruddha, 2022. "Religious attendance and global cognitive function: A fixed-effects cross-lagged panel modeling study of older U.S. adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    3. Dürlinger, Florian & Fries, Jonathan & Yanagida, Takuya & Pietschnig, Jakob, 2023. "Religiosity does not prevent cognitive declines: Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    4. Laura Castro-Schilo & Barbara L. Fredrickson & Dan Mungas, 2019. "Association of Positive Affect with Cognitive Health and Decline for Elder Mexican Americans," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(8), pages 2385-2400, December.
    5. Ferraro, Kenneth F. & Kim, Seoyoun, 2014. "Health benefits of religion among Black and White older adults? Race, religiosity, and C-reactive protein," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 92-99.
    6. Shor, Eran & Roelfs, David J., 2015. "Social contact frequency and all-cause mortality: A meta-analysis and meta-regression," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 76-86.
    7. Hill, Terrence D. & Angel, Jacqueline L. & Balistreri, Kelly S. & Herrera, Angelica P., 2012. "Immigrant status and cognitive functioning in late-life: An examination of gender variations in the healthy immigrant effect," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(12), pages 2076-2084.
    8. Onwilasini Stewart & Khemika Yamarat & Karl J. Neeser & Somrat Lertmaharit & Eleanor Holroyd, 2014. "Buddhist religious practices and blood pressure among elderly in rural Uttaradit Province, northern Thailand," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(1), pages 119-125, March.
    9. Jongnam Hwang & Sangmin Park & Sujin Kim, 2018. "Effects of Participation in Social Activities on Cognitive Function Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-12, October.
    10. Buck, Anna C. & Williams, David R. & Musick, Marc A. & Sternthal, Michelle J., 2009. "An examination of the relationship between multiple dimensions of religiosity, blood pressure, and hypertension," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 314-322, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:5:p:4300-:d:1083195. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.