Buddhist religious practices and blood pressure among elderly in rural Uttaradit Province, northern Thailand

The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between Buddhist religious practices and blood pressure. A cross‐sectional survey of Buddhist religious practices and blood pressure was conducted with 160 Buddhist elderly in rural Uttaradit, northern Thailand. After controlling for the variabl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nursing & health sciences 2014-03, Vol.16 (1), p.119-125
Main Authors: Stewart, Onwilasini, Yamarat, Khemika, Neeser, Karl J., Lertmaharit, Somrat, Holroyd, Eleanor
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Blood pressure
Blood Pressure - physiology
Buddhism
Buddhism - psychology
Buddhists
Chi-Square Distribution
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diet, Sodium-Restricted
Elderly people
Exercise
Feeding Behavior
Female
Health behavior
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Hypertension
Hypertension - prevention & control
Hypertension - psychology
Male
Middle Aged
Nursing
Older people
religion
Religious behaviour
Rural areas
Rural Population
Self Report
Social Class
Social Support
spirituality
Temples
Thailand
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Summary:The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between Buddhist religious practices and blood pressure. A cross‐sectional survey of Buddhist religious practices and blood pressure was conducted with 160 Buddhist elderly in rural Uttaradit, northern Thailand. After controlling for the variables of gender, status, education, salary, underlying hypertension, exercise, salt intake, and taking antihypertensive medications, it was found that lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure is associated with the Buddhist religious practice of temple attendance. The Buddhist older people who regularly attended a temple every Buddhist Holy day (which occurs once a week) were found to have systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings lower than people who did not attend as regularly. It is recommended that nurses advocate for temple attendance in the care protocols for older Buddhist hypertensive patients both in Thailand and internationally.
ISSN:1441-0745
1442-2018
DOI:10.1111/nhs.12075