Health Disparities in Nonreligious and Religious Older Adults in the United States: A Descriptive Epidemiology of 16 Common Chronic Conditions

Alexandra C.H. Nowakowski; Jason Edward Sumerau

doi:10.5334/snr.85

Figures & Tables

Table 1

Characteristics of Study Population at NSHAP Wave I (n = 2,966).

Attribute	Response	Number Reporting	Proportion Reporting
Religious preference	None	189	6.3%
	Protestant	1,359	45.8%
	Catholic	849	28.6%
Jewish	50	1.69%
Other	519	17.5%
Religious attendance	Never	573	19.3%
	Less than once a year	146	4.9%
	About once or twice a year	276	9.3%
	Several times a year	320	10.8%
About once a month	285	9.6%
Every week	1,007	34.0%
Several times a week	359	12.1%
Chronic conditions	Arthritis	1,566	52.8%
	Ulcers	400	13.5%
	Emphysema or COPD	318	10.7%
	Asthma	304	10.2%
	Stroke	265	8.9%
	Hypertension	1,699	57.3%
	Diabetes	636	21.4%
	Alzheimer’s or dementia	25	0.8%
	Cirrhosis	33	1.1%
Leukemia	12	0.4%
Lymphoma	24	0.8%
Skin cancer	428	14.4%
Any other cancer	340	11.5%
Poor kidney function	124	4.2%
Thyroid problems	433	14.6%
Enlarged prostate	381	12.8%
None of the above	321	10.8%
Sex identity	Male	1,440	48.6%
Female	1,526	51.4%
Racial background	Non-Hispanic White	2,091	70.5%
	Hispanic White	178	6.0%
	Black	505	17.0%
Native American or Alaskan	22	0.7%
Asian or Pacific Islander	36	1.2%
Other	134	4.5%
Education level	No degree	764	25.8%
	High school diploma or GED	1,090	36.7%
	Associate’s degree	463	15.6%
Bachelor’s degree	368	12.4%
Master’s degree	206	6.9%
Doctoral degree	75	2.5%

Table 2

Chronic Condition Frequency by Religious Preference (n = 2,966).

Condition	None		Protestant		Catholic		Jewish		Other
Arthritis	81	42.9%	731	53.8%	427	50.3%	25	50.0%	302	58.2%
Ulcers	23	12.2%	179	13.2%	108	12.7%	3	6.0%	87	16.8%
Emphysema or COPD	15	7.9%	147	10.8%	85	10.0%	7	14.0%	64	12.3%
Asthma	25	13.2%	141	10.4%	88	10.4%	5	10.0%	45	8.7%
Stroke	11	5.8%	137	10.1%	60	7.1%	1	2.0%	56	10.8%
Hypertension	98	51.9%	796	58.6%	456	53.7%	25	50.0%	324	62.4%
Diabetes	30	15.9%	280	20.6%	181	21.3%	6	12.0%	139	26.8%
Alzheimer’s or dementia	1	0.5%	10	0.7%	7	0.8%	0	0.0%	7	1.3%
Cirrhosis	2	1.1%	13	1.0%	7	0.8%	1	2.0%	10	1.9%
Leukemia	1	0.5%	5	0.4%	4	0.5%	1	2.0%	1	0.2%
Lymphoma	3	1.6%	10	0.7%	8	0.9%	2	4.0%	1	0.2%
Skin cancer	27	14.3%	220	16.2%	108	12.7%	11	22.0%	62	11.9%
Any other cancer	27	14.3%	165	12.1%	98	11.5%	4	8.0%	46	8.9%
Poor kidney function	6	3.2%	66	4.9%	29	3.4%	1	2.0%	22	4.2%
Thyroid problems	25	13.2%	206	15.2%	112	13.2%	5	10.0%	85	16.4%
Enlarged prostate	31	16.4%	171	12.6%	116	13.7%	8	16.0%	55	10.6%
None of the above	25	13.2%	133	9.8%	104	12.2%	4	8.0%	54	10.4%

Table 3

Chronic Condition Frequency by Religious Attendance (n = 2,966).

Condition	Never		Less than Once a Year		About Once or Twice a Year		Several Times a Year		About Once a Month		Every Week		Several Times a Week
Arthritis	276	48.2%	75	51.4%	131	47.5%	174	54.4%	141	49.5%	554	55.0%	215	59.9%
Ulcers	83	14.5%	20	13.7%	38	13.8%	39	12.2%	36	12.6%	127	12.6%	57	15.9%
Emphysema or COPD	75	13.1%	19	13.0%	31	11.2%	43	13.4%	16	5.6%	98	9.7%	36	10.0%
Asthma	74	12.9%	18	12.3%	28	10.1%	34	10.6%	25	8.8%	89	8.8%	36	10.0%
Stroke	60	10.5%	15	10.3%	28	10.1%	38	11.9%	22	7.7%	72	7.1%	30	8.4%
Hypertension	323	56.4%	84	57.5%	144	52.2%	193	60.3%	148	51.9%	593	58.9%	214	59.6%
Diabetes	111	19.4%	42	28.8%	49	17.8%	68	21.3%	54	18.9%	220	21.8%	92	25.6%
Alzheimer’s or dementia	3	0.5%	3	2.1%	3	1.1%	2	0.6%	2	0.7%	9	0.9%	3	0.8%
Cirrhosis	10	1.7%	2	1.4%	5	1.8%	2	0.6%	2	0.7%	8	0.8%	4	1.1%
Leukemia	2	0.3%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	0.3%	1	0.4%	5	0.5%	3	0.8%
Lymphoma	7	1.2%	0	0.0%	1	0.4%	4	1.3%	2	0.7%	10	1.0%	0	0.0%
Skin cancer	89	15.5%	16	11.0%	41	14.9%	43	13.4%	29	10.2%	170	16.9%	40	11.1%
Any other cancer	80	14.0%	10	6.8%	32	11.6%	29	9.1%	24	8.4%	123	12.2%	42	11.7%
Poor kidney function	26	4.54%	11	7.5%	10	3.6%	15	4.7%	9	3.2%	38	3.8%	15	4.2%
Thyroid problems	77	13.4%	14	9.6%	43	15.6%	40	12.5%	42	14.7%	167	16.6%	50	13.9%
Enlarged prostate	93	16.2%	14	9.6%	31	11.2%	45	14.1%	38	13.3%	115	11.4%	45	12.5%
None of the above	65	11.3%	14	9.6%	36	13.0%	40	12.5%	39	13.7%	94	9.3%	33	9.2%

Table 4a

Chronic Condition Frequency by Sex Among People with No Religious Preference (n = 189).

Condition	Male		Female
Arthritis	53	43.4%	28	41.8%
Ulcers	18	14.8%	5	7.5%
Emphysema or COPD	8	6.6%	7	10.4%
Asthma	9	7.4%	16	23.9%
Stroke	8	6.6%	3	4.5%
Hypertension	60	49.2%	38	56.7%
Diabetes	21	17.2%	9	13.4%
Alzheimer’s or dementia	0	0.0%	1	1.5%
Cirrhosis	2	1.6%	0	0.0%
Leukemia	1	0.8%	1	1.5%
Lymphoma	2	1.6%	1	1.5%
Skin cancer	16	13.1%	11	16.4%
Any other cancer	16	13.1%	11	16.4%
Poor kidney function	5	4.1%	1	1.5%
Thyroid problems	6	4.9%	19	28.4%
Enlarged prostate	31	25.4%	0	0.0%
None of the above	20	16.4%	5	7.5%

Table 4b

Chronic Condition Frequency by Race Among People with No Religious Preference (n = 189).

Condition	Non-Hispanic White		Hispanic White		Black		Native American or Alaskan			Other
Arthritis	72	44.4%	1	11.1%	8	61.5%	0	0.0%	0.0%	0	0.0%
Ulcers	19	11.7%	1	11.1%	3	23.1%	0	0.0%	0.0%	0	0.0%
Emphysema or COPD	13	8.0%	0	0.0%	2	15.4%	0	0.0%	0.0%	0	0.0%
Asthma	21	13.0%	1	11.1%	2	15.4%	0	0.0%	0.0%	1	75.0%
Stroke	10	6.2%	0	0.0%	1	7.7%	0	0.0%	0.0%	0	0.0%
Hypertension	81	50.0%	5	55.6%	10	76.9%	1	100.0%	0.0%	1	25.0%
Diabetes	19	11.7%	0	0.0%	8	61.5%	0	0.0%	0.0%	3	75.0%
Alzheimer’s or dementia	1	0.6%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0.0%	0	0.0%
Cirrhosis	2	1.2%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0.0%	0	0.0%
Leukemia	1	0.6%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0.0%	0	0.0%
Lymphoma	3	1.9%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0.0%	0	0.0%
Skin cancer	26	16.0%	1	11.1%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0.0%	0	0.0%
Any other cancer	25	15.4%	0	0.0%	2	15.4%	0	0.0%	0.0%	0	0.0%
Poor kidney function	5	3.1%	0	0.0%	1	7.7%	0	0.0%	0.0%	0	0.0%
Thyroid problems	24	14.8%	1	11.1%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0.0%	0	0.0%
Enlarged prostate	29	17.9%	1	11.1%	1	7.7%	0	0.0%	0.0%	0	0.0%
None of the above	23	14.2%	2	22.2%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0.0%	0	0.0%

Table 4c

Chronic Condition Frequency by Education Among People with No Religious Preference (n = 189).

Condition	No Degree		HS Diploma or GED		Associate’s Degree		Bachelor’s Degree		Master’s Degree		Doctoral Degree
Arthritis	17	41.5%	28	48.3%	13	39.4%	13	39.4%	7	46.7%	3	33.3%
Ulcers	10	24.4%	7	12.1%	3	9.1%	1	3.0%	1	6.7%	1	11.1%
Emphysema or COPD	3	7.3%	4	6.9%	3	9.1%	2	6.1%	2	13.3%	1	11.1%
Asthma	6	14.6%	6	10.3%	4	12.1%	8	24.2%	1	6.7%	0	0.0%
Stroke	3	7.3%	2	3.4%	3	9.1%	3	9.1%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Hypertension	22	53.7%	31	53.4%	21	63.6%	16	48.5%	7	46.7%	1	11.1%
Diabetes	11	26.8%	10	17.2%	6	18.2%	3	9.1%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Alzheimer’s or dementia	0	0.0%	1	1.7%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Cirrhosis	2	4.9%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Leukemia	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	3.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Lymphoma	1	2.4%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	2	6.1%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Skin cancer	6	14.6%	7	12.1%	3	9.1%	5	15.2%	5	33.3%	1	11.1%
Any other cancer	6	14.6%	7	12.1%	7	21.2%	4	12.1%	2	13.3%	1	11.1%
Poor kidney function	1	2.4%	2	3.4%	2	6.1%	0	0.0%	1	6.7%	0	0.0%
Thyroid problems	3	7.3%	9	15.5%	7	21.2%	3	9.1%	1	6.7%	2	22.2%
Enlarged prostate	3	7.3%	10	17.2%	5	15.2%	9	27.3%	1	6.7%	3	33.3%
None of the above	4	9.8%	10	17.2%	4	12.1%	3	9.1%	2	13.3%	2	22.2%

Table 5a

Chronic Condition Frequency by Sex Among People with No Religious Attendance (n = 573).

Condition	Male		Female
Arthritis	138	42.2%	138	56.1%
Ulcers	41	12.5%	42	17.1%
Emphysema or COPD	39	11.9%	36	14.6%
Asthma	34	10.4%	40	16.3%
Stroke	35	10.7%	25	10.2%
Hypertension	184	56.3%	139	56.5%
Diabetes	70	21.4%	41	16.7%
Alzheimer’s or dementia	1	0.3%	2	0.8%
Cirrhosis	7	2.1%	3	1.2%
Leukemia	1	0.3%	1	0.4%
Lymphoma	5	1.5%	2	0.8%
Skin cancer	56	17.1%	33	13.4%
Any other cancer	45	13.8%	35	14.2%
Poor kidney function	15	4.6%	11	4.5%
Thyroid problems	20	6.1%	57	23.2%
Enlarged prostate	93	28.4%	0	0.0%
None of the above	40	12.2%	25	10.2%

Table 5b

Chronic Condition Frequency by Race Among People with No Religious Attendance (n = 573).

Condition	Non-Hispanic White		Hispanic White		Black		Native American or Alaskan		Asian or Pacific Islander		Other
Arthritis	237	49.2%	4	21.1%	24	53.3%	4	57.1%	1	33.3%	6	35.3%
Ulcers	73	15.1%	1	5.3%	6	13.3%	1	14.3%	0	0.0%	2	11.8%
Emphysema or COPD	68	14.1%	2	10.5%	4	8.9%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	5.9%
Asthma	62	12.9%	4	21.1%	6	13.3%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	2	11.8%
Stroke	46	9.5%	0	0.0%	10	22.2%	1	14.3%	0	0.0%	3	17.6%
Hypertension	266	55.2%	9	47.4%	34	75.6%	5	71.4%	1	33.3%	8	47.1%
Diabetes	81	16.8%	1	5.3%	19	42.2%	3	42.9%	1	33.3%	6	35.3%
Alzheimer’s or dementia	2	0.4%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	5.9%
Cirrhosis	8	1.7%	0	0.0%	2	4.4%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Leukemia	2	0.4%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Lymphoma	7	1.5%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Skin cancer	85	17.6%	2	10.5%	0	0.0%	1	14.3%	0	0.0%	1	5.9%
Any other cancer	76	15.8%	1	5.3%	3	6.7%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Poor kidney function	22	4.6%	0	0.0%	4	8.9%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Thyroid problems	72	14.9%	2	10.5%	2	4.4%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	5.9%
Enlarged prostate	88	18.3%	2	10.5%	2	4.4%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	1	5.9%
None of the above	51	10.6%	5	26.3%	4	8.9%	1	14.3%	1	33.3%	3	17.6%

Table 5c

Chronic Condition Frequency by Education Among People with No Religious Attendance (n = 573).

Condition	No Degree		HS Diploma or GED		Associate’s Degree		Bachelor’s Degree		Master’s Degree		Doctoral Degree
Arthritis	83	55.3%	102	49.3%	43	48.3%	26	36.1%	16	45.7%	6	30.0%
Ulcers	31	20.7%	25	12.1%	13	14.6%	10	13.9%	2	5.7%	2	10.0%
Emphysema or COPD	21	14.0%	23	11.1%	17	19.1%	11	15.3%	2	5.7%	1	5.0%
Asthma	26	17.3%	20	9.7%	12	13.5%	11	15.3%	3	8.6%	2	10.0%
Stroke	25	16.7%	21	10.1%	5	5.6%	8	11.1%	1	2.9%	0	0.0%
Hypertension	94	62.7%	112	54.1%	54	60.7%	35	48.6%	22	62.9%	6	30.0%
Diabetes	43	28.7%	43	20.8%	15	16.9%	5	6.9%	4	11.4%	1	5.0%
Alzheimer’s or dementia	1	0.7%	1	0.5%	1	1.1%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Cirrhosis	6	4.0%	3	1.4%	0	0.0%	1	1.4%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Leukemia	0	0.0%	1	0.5%	1	1.1%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Lymphoma	2	1.3%	2	1.0%	0	0.0%	3	4.2%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
Skin cancer	22	14.7%	35	16.9%	8	9.0%	15	20.8%	7	20.0%	2	10.0%
Any other cancer	19	12.7%	28	13.5%	16	18.0%	11	15.3%	4	11.4%	2	10.0%
Poor kidney function	9	6.0%	11	5.3%	4	4.5%	0	0.0%	2	5.7%	0	0.0%
Thyroid problems	17	11.3%	25	12.1%	18	20.2%	11	15.3%	4	11.4%	2	10.0%
Enlarged prostate	13	8.7%	33	15.9%	12	13.5%	27	37.5%	2	5.7%	6	30.0%
None of the above	12	8.0%	27	13.0%	10	11.2%	6	8.3%	3	8.6%	7	35.0%

Table 6a

Negative Binomial Regression Models of Chronic Disease Burden by Religious Preference (n = 2,966).

Predictor	Model 1	Model 2
States a religious preference	–0.0000233†	–0.0970391†
Female	–	0.0205313
Racial minority background	–	–0.1045975***
Education level	–	–0.0488698***
Prob > χ²	0.0570	0.0000

[i] †p < 0.10, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.

Table 6b

Negative Binomial Regression Models of Chronic Disease Burden by Religious Attendance (n = 2,966).

Predictor	Model 1	Model 2
Level of service attendance	–0.0000233	0.0030472
Female	–	0.0225048
Racial minority background	–	–0.1031267***
Education level	–	–0.0496964***
Prob > χ²	0.9968	0.0000