Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29349154›Full record

ReviewSSM - population health2016

Spirituality, religiosity, aging and health in global perspective: A review.

Zachary Zimmer, Carol Jagger, Chi-Tsun Chiu, Mary Beth Ofstedal, Florencia Rojo, Yasuhiko Saito

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in SSM - population health, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 118 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
118citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

118 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  14. "We Don't Normally Go Down This Avenue; This Is Normally Taboo": Using Co-Design to Develop a Training Intervention for Spiritual Health in Primary Care.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026
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58 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Zachary ZimmerUniversity of California, San Francisco, USA.
Carol JaggerNewcastle University, UK.
Chi-Tsun ChiuAcademia Sinica, Taiwan.
Mary Beth OfstedalUniversity of Michigan, USA.
Florencia RojoUniversity of California, San Francisco, USA.
Yasuhiko SaitoNihon University, Japan.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Persistent population aging worldwide is focusing attention on modifiable factors that can improve later life health. There is evidence that religiosity and spirituality are among such factors. Older people tend to have high rates of involvement in religious and/or spiritual endeavors and it is possible that population aging will be associated with increasing prevalence of religious and spiritual activity worldwide. Despite increasing research on religiosity, spirituality and health among older persons, population aging worldwide suggests the need for a globally integrated approach. As a step toward this, we review a subset of the literature on the impact of religiosity and spirituality on health in later life. We find that much of this has looked at the relationship between religiosity/spirituality and longevity as well as physical and mental health. Mechanisms include social support, health behaviors, stress and psychosocial factors. We identify a number of gaps in current knowledge. Many previous studies have taken place in the U.S. and Europe. Much data is cross-sectional, limiting ability to make causal inference. Religiosity and spirituality can be difficult to define and distinguish and the two concepts are often considered together, though on balance religiosity has received more attention than spirituality. The latter may however be equally important. Although there is evidence that religiosity is associated with longer life and better physical and mental health, these outcomes have been investigated separately rather than together such as in measures of health expectancy. In conclusion, there is a need for a unified and nuanced approach to understanding how religiosity and spirituality impact on health and longevity within a context of global aging, in particular whether they result in longer healthy life rather than just longer life.

Indexed as

AgingGlobal agingHealth expectancyMindfulnessMortalityOlder adultsReligionSpirituality

Identifiers

PMID29349154
PMCPMC5758000

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.