Religiosity and Function Among Community-Dwelling Older Adult Survivors of Cancer

Aspects of religiosity/spirituality are important to health and quality of life of cancer patients. The three components of religiosity of the Duke Religiosity Scale, organizational (religious affiliation and attendance); non-organizational (prayer, meditation, and private study); and intrinsic religiosity (identification with a higher power and integration of spiritual belief into daily life) are used to determine whether religiosity was associated with physical and/or mental functioning among older cancer survivors of the UAB Study of Aging. Church attendance was independently associated with lower ADL and IADL difficulty and fewer depressive symptoms, while intrinsic religiosity was independently associated with lower depression scores.