Milken Institute School of Public Health Poster Presentations (Marvin Center & Video)
The relationship between race and positive religious coping among patients living with HIV/AIDS
To be presented at GW Annual Research Days 2017.
Abstract
Background and Aims: Religious coping includes a wide variety of spiritually and religiously based behavioral, cognitive and interpersonal responses to stressors. Positive religious coping includes beliefs that God will strengthen one’s faithfulness. Spirituality to cope with medical illness has been associated with lower rates of depression and overall spiritual coping predicted greater survival in patients living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Our objective was to determine if there was a difference in religious coping between African American and non African American adult PLWHA. The secondary aim was to determine if there is an association between HIV viral load and religious coping in adult PLWHAs._x000D_
Methods: PLWHA (N=224) were included in this cross-sectional study. Positive religious coping was measured using the validated Brief RCOPE questionnaire administered at the baseline visit of the parent study. The parent study is a randomized controlled trial on advance care planning in PLWHA. Information on race was obtained from self-report and information on HIV viral load was obtained from medical records close to baseline visit. Statistical methods were used to compare positive religious coping by race and HIV viral load._x000D_
Results: The median positive religious coping sub score among African American PLWHA is 14 and for non African American PLWHA is 10 (p=0.0002) based on the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test. It remained significant (p=0.0007) after adjusting for gender, sexual orientation and education. The difference in positive religious coping between PLWHA with undetectable and detectable viral load was not statistically significant (p= 0.5888).
Conclusion: Our findings supported a modest positive association between race and positive religious coping among PLWHA. African American PLWHA demonstrated stronger positive religious coping compared to non-African Americans
The relationship between race and positive religious coping among patients living with HIV/AIDS
Background and Aims: Religious coping includes a wide variety of spiritually and religiously based behavioral, cognitive and interpersonal responses to stressors. Positive religious coping includes beliefs that God will strengthen one’s faithfulness. Spirituality to cope with medical illness has been associated with lower rates of depression and overall spiritual coping predicted greater survival in patients living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Our objective was to determine if there was a difference in religious coping between African American and non African American adult PLWHA. The secondary aim was to determine if there is an association between HIV viral load and religious coping in adult PLWHAs._x000D_
Methods: PLWHA (N=224) were included in this cross-sectional study. Positive religious coping was measured using the validated Brief RCOPE questionnaire administered at the baseline visit of the parent study. The parent study is a randomized controlled trial on advance care planning in PLWHA. Information on race was obtained from self-report and information on HIV viral load was obtained from medical records close to baseline visit. Statistical methods were used to compare positive religious coping by race and HIV viral load._x000D_
Results: The median positive religious coping sub score among African American PLWHA is 14 and for non African American PLWHA is 10 (p=0.0002) based on the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test. It remained significant (p=0.0007) after adjusting for gender, sexual orientation and education. The difference in positive religious coping between PLWHA with undetectable and detectable viral load was not statistically significant (p= 0.5888).
Conclusion: Our findings supported a modest positive association between race and positive religious coping among PLWHA. African American PLWHA demonstrated stronger positive religious coping compared to non-African Americans