Religiosity and preferences for life-prolonging medical treatments in African-American and white elders: a mediation study.
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.
Winter
Laraine
L
Center for Applied Research on Aging and Health, Thomas Jefferson University, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19107, USA. Laraine.Winter@Jefferson.edu
Dennis
Marie P
MP
Parker
Barbara
B
D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001293:Attitude to Death / Q000208:ethnology; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D003863:Depression / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000208:ethnology*; D015143:Philadelphia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012944:Social Support; D029181:Spirituality; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*