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Abstract
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AIMS: In western Christian countries, religiosity is generally believed to associated with a lower risk for depression which is supported by epidemiological evidence. However, the association between religiosity and depression in multireligious countries is unknown. The objective is to evaluate the association between religiosity and subsequent depression in a multireligious population.
METHODS: Longitudinal study was conducted in a large hospital in Tokyo, Japan, from 2005 to 2018. All participants who underwent health check-ups, without a prior history of depression or depression at baseline, were included. Our outcome was development of major depressive disorder (MDD) which was compared by the degree of religiosity, adjusting for potential confounders.
RESULTS: Among 67,723 adult participants, those who were more religious tended to be older, female, married, had healthier habits, but had more medical comorbidities, at baseline. During median follow-up of 2,528 days, 1,911 (2.8%) developed MDD. Compared to reference group, more religious group tended to have more odds ratios (ORs) for developing MDD in dose-dependent manner. Among them, extremely religious group (OR 1.51, 95%CI:1.28-1.78) and moderately religious group (OR 1.30, 95%CI:1.14-1.49) were statistically associated with increased development of MDD compared to not religious at all group. Those who had increased their religiosity from baseline had statistically lower development of MDD (OR 0.85, 95%CI:0.75-0.97) compared to those who remained in the same degree of religiosity from baseline.
CONCLUSION: Religiosity was associated with future MDD in dose-dependent manner in a multireligious population which was in the opposite direction from that seen in previous western longitudinal studies. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Language: en |