Hidajat Mira, Zimmer Zachary, Saito Yasuhiko, Lin Hui-Sheng
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA.
University of California, San Francisco, USA.
Eur J Ageing. 2013 Apr 5;10(3):229-236. doi: 10.1007/s10433-013-0273-9. eCollection 2013 Sep.
Research has implicated religious activity as a health determinant, but questions remain, including whether associations persist in places where Judeo-Christian religions are not the majority; whether public versus private religious expressions have equivalent impacts, and the precise advantage expressed as years of life. This article addresses these issues in Taiwan. 3,739 Taiwanese aged 53+ were surveyed in 1999, 2003, and 2007. Mortality and disability were recorded. Religious activities in public and private settings were measured at baseline. Multistate life-tables produced estimates of total life expectancy and activity of daily living (ADL) disability-free life expectancy across levels of public and private religious activity. There is a consistent positive gradient between religious activity and expectancy with greater activity related to longer life and more years without disability. Life and ADL disability-free life expectancies for those with no religious affiliation fit in between the lowest and highest religious activity groups. Results corroborate evidence in the West. Mechanisms that intervene may be similar in Eastern religions despite differences in the ways in which popular religions are practiced. Results for those with no affiliation suggest benefits of religion can be accrued in alternate ways.
研究表明宗教活动是一个健康决定因素，但问题依然存在，包括在犹太-基督教并非主要宗教的地区，这种关联是否依然存在；公开的宗教表达与私下的宗教表达是否具有同等影响，以及以寿命年数表示的具体优势。本文探讨台湾地区的这些问题。1999年、2003年和2007年对3739名53岁及以上的台湾人进行了调查。记录了死亡率和残疾情况。在基线时测量了公开场合和私下场合的宗教活动。多状态生命表得出了不同公开和私下宗教活动水平下的总预期寿命和无日常生活活动（ADL）残疾预期寿命的估计值。宗教活动与预期寿命之间存在一致的正梯度，宗教活动越多，寿命越长，无残疾年数越多。无宗教信仰者的生命预期寿命和无ADL残疾预期寿命处于宗教活动最低和最高群体之间。研究结果证实了西方的相关证据。尽管流行宗教的实践方式存在差异，但东方宗教中可能存在类似的干预机制。无宗教信仰者的研究结果表明，可以通过其他方式获得宗教的益处。
