Religiosity and preferences for life-prolonging medical treatments in African-American and white elders: a mediation study.
| Related Articles |
Religiosity and preferences for life-prolonging medical treatments in African-American and white elders: a mediation study.
Omega (Westport). 2007-2008;56(3):273-88
Authors: Winter L, Dennis MP, Parker B
Research on end-of-life treatment preferences has documented robust racial differences, with African-Americans preferring more life-prolonging treatment than Whites. Although little research has attempted to explain these racial differences systematically, speculation has centered on religiosity. We examined a dimension of religiosity frequently invoked in end-of-life research-guidance by God’s will-as a potential mediator of racial differences in such treatment preferences. Three hundred African-American and White men and women aged 60 or older participated in a 35-minute telephone interview that elicited preferences for four common life-prolonging treatments in each of nine health scenarios. The questionnaire included the five-item God’s will (GW) scale, a health conditions checklist, a depression measure, and sociodemographic questions. GW mediated racial differences at least partially for most treatments and in most health scenarios. Implications are discussed for understanding end-of-life treatment preferences and why races tend to differ.
PMID: 18300651 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
More: continued here
Filed under: Uncategorized