Levin Jeff, Chatters Linda M, Taylor Robert Joseph
University of Michigan School of Social Work, USA.
J Natl Med Assoc. 2005 Feb;97(2):237-49.
Recent years have seen a burgeoning of research and writing on the connections between religion and health. The very best of this work comes from epidemiologic studies of African Americans. This paper summarizes results of these investigations, including findings identifying effects of religious participation on both physical and mental health outcomes. Evidence mostly supports a protective religious effect on morbidity and mortality and on depressive symptoms and overall psychological distress among African Americans. This paper also carefully discusses what the results of these studies mean and do not mean, an important consideration due to frequent misinterpretations of findings on this topic. Because important distinctions between epidemiologic and clinical studies tend to get glossed over, reports of religion-health associations oftentimes draw erroneous conclusions that foster unrealistic expectations about the role of faith and spirituality in health and healing. Finally, implications are discussed for clinical practice, medical education and public health.
近年来，关于宗教与健康之间联系的研究和著述蓬勃发展。其中最出色的研究来自对非裔美国人的流行病学研究。本文总结了这些调查的结果，包括确定宗教参与对身心健康结果影响的研究发现。证据大多支持宗教对非裔美国人的发病率、死亡率、抑郁症状及总体心理困扰具有保护作用。本文还仔细探讨了这些研究结果的意义与非意义所在，鉴于该主题研究结果常被误解，这是一个重要的考量因素。由于流行病学研究和临床研究之间的重要区别往往被忽视，宗教与健康关联的报告常常得出错误结论，从而催生了对信仰和灵性在健康与治愈中作用的不切实际期望。最后，本文讨论了这些研究结果对临床实践、医学教育和公共卫生的启示。
