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Measured Efficacy · Peer-Reviewed
Religion & All-Cause Mortality
Two large studies behind the claim that practising believers live longer: a ~7-year life-expectancy gap, and a 33% lower death rate among frequent attenders.
VanderWeele et al. (2016) — 33% lower mortality
JAMA INTERNAL MEDICINE · 2016;176(6):777–785
−33%
all-cause mortality
(HR 0.67, 95% CI 0.62–0.71)
−27%
cardiovascular mortality
Drawing on the Nurses’ Health Study — a prospective cohort of 74,534 U.S. women followed from 1996 to 2012 with repeated measurements of religious service attendance — women who attended more than once a week had a 33% lower risk of death from any cause than women who never attended, along with lower cardiovascular and cancer mortality.
Design: prospective cohort, 16-year follow-up, repeated exposure measurement. Confounders controlled: diet, smoking, alcohol, BMI, physical activity, depression, social integration, marital status, and more. The authors note the size and repeated-measures design make reverse causation an unlikely full explanation.
Hummer et al. (1999) — a 7-year life-expectancy gap
DEMOGRAPHY · 1999;36(2):273–285
~7 yrs
longer life expectancy at age 20:
weekly+ attenders vs never
1.87×
death risk for those who
never attend vs attend >1×/week
Using the nationally representative National Health Interview Survey linked to death records, this landmark study found religious attendance associated with mortality in a graded, dose-response fashion. Life expectancy at age 20 was about seven years longer for those attending more than once a week (~83 years) than for those who never attend (~75 years).
Read honestly: these are large, well-controlled observational studies, not randomized experiments — so they establish a strong, dose-dependent association (surviving extensive adjustment for health behaviors and social factors) rather than airtight proof of cause. Together they are among the most-cited evidence that active religious practice is linked to longer life.