Hawa O. Abu|David D. McManus|Darleen Lessard|Catarina I. Kiefe|Robert J. Goldberg
Religious practices and changes in health-related quality of life after hospital discharge for an acute coronary syndrome
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School|University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School|University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School|University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School|University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
religious beliefs practices influence coping mechanisms quality life patients various chronic illnesses however little known influence religious practices changes healthrelated quality life hrqol among hospital survivors acute coronary syndrome acs present study examined association several items assessing religiosity clinically meaningful changes hrqol 1 6 months hospital discharge acs recruited patients hospitalized acs six medical centers central massachusetts georgia 20112013 participants reported making petition prayers health awareness intercessory prayers others deriving strengthcomfort religion generic hrqol assessed sf36v2 physical mental component summary scores diseasespecific hrqol evaluated using seattle angina questionnaire quality life subscale saqqol separately examined association measure religiosity likelihood experiencing clinically meaningful increase diseasespecific hrqol defined increases 100 points generic hrqol defined increases 30 points 1 6months posthospital discharge participants n 1039 average 62 years old 33 women 86 nonhispanic white twothirds reported praying health 88 aware intercessions others 85 derived strengthcomfort religion approximately 42 40 26 participants experienced clinically meaningful increases mental physical diseasespecific hrqol respectively adjustment sociodemographic psychosocial clinical characteristics petition aor149 95 ci 109204 intercessory aor172 95 ci 112263 prayers health associated clinically meaningful increases diseasespecific physical hrqol respectively acs survivors contemporary multiracial cohort acknowledged praying health aware intercessory prayers made health derived strength comfort religion patients prayed health aware intercessions made health experienced improvement generic physical diseasespecific hrqol time healthcare providers recognize patients may use prayer coping strategy improving wellbeing recovery lifethreatening illness