Levin J S, Vanderpool H Y
Soc Sci Med. 1987;24(7):589-600. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(87)90063-3.
Although hundreds of published studies have addressed the effects of religion on morbidity and mortality, many investigators may be unaware of this literature. This paper begins with an analysis of an important subset of these studies--those 27 which operationalize 'religiosity' as religious attendance--and which, taken as a whole, point to a consistent salutary effect for frequent attendance. Upon identifying several pervasive epistemological, methodological, and analytical problems with these studies, however, this paper shows that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that religious attendance is positively and significantly related to health. Nevertheless, the authors present a theoretical basis for expecting such associations. This framework is included in a brief primer on religion for epidemiologists and other sociomedical scientists interested in exploring the health-related effects of religious factors. Finally, a possible scenario for the development of an epidemiology of religion is discussed.
尽管已有数百项已发表的研究探讨了宗教对发病率和死亡率的影响，但许多研究者可能并未了解这方面的文献。本文首先分析了这些研究中的一个重要子集——即27项将“宗教虔诚度”界定为宗教仪式参与度的研究——总体而言，这些研究表明经常参与宗教仪式具有持续的有益影响。然而，在识别出这些研究中存在的几个普遍的认识论、方法论和分析问题后，本文表明，尚无足够证据得出宗教仪式参与度与健康呈正相关且具有显著相关性的结论。尽管如此，作者提出了一个预期存在此类关联的理论基础。这个框架包含在一份为流行病学家以及其他对探索宗教因素与健康相关影响感兴趣的社会医学科学家编写的宗教简要入门材料中。最后，本文讨论了宗教流行病学发展的一种可能情形。
