Spiritual practices among elderly, prevalence, pattern and associated factors: a community-based study from rural Bengaluru, India

Abstract

Introduction: Need for spiritual solace increases with aging due to fading health and wellbeing. Modern medicine has realized the influence of spirituality on positive health. There is a paucity of evidence on spiritual practices among the elderly from rural parts of India.Objectives: To find out the prevalence, pattern, and associated factors of spiritual practices among the elderly population.Methods: This was a community-based study conducted for a period of one year. A total of 1000 elderly from three primary health centre (PHC) areas of Bengaluru Urban district, were selected by cluster sampling technique. Data regarding sociopersonal characteristics were collected through house visits and the elderly were screened for depression using the Geriatric Depression Scale 15 (Kannada Version). History pertaining to the intensity and frequency of spiritual practices was also collected. Data were analysed using PASW Statistics version 18.0.Results: The prevalence of spiritual practices was 97.4%. The most prevalent spiritual practice among the subjects was daily prayer (92.9%). Practices like visiting places of worship, attending religious meetings and meditation were more prevalent among females, whereas performing daily prayers, reading scriptures and chanting were more prevalent among males. However, none of these associations were found to be statistically significant (p>0.05). Lower prevalence of disturbed appetite, disturbed sleep, substance use, average/poor self-perceived health status, adverse life events and depression was found among elderly involved in spiritual practices. However, none of these associations were found to be statistically significant (p>0.05).Conclusions & Recommendations: The prevalence of spiritual practices among the elderly was high. The most prevalent spiritual practice among them was daily prayer and those involved in spiritual practices, though not statistically significant, had a lower prevalence of disturbed appetite, disturbed sleep, substance use, average/poor self-perceived health status, history of adverse life events and depression. The beneficial effects of spiritual practices on health needs to be explored further in studies involving large and representative samples.