title: Religiousness, religious coping with illness, and psychological function among Polish elderly patients with osteoarthritis undergoing arthroplasty.
abstract: To determine the influence of religious coping and religiousness on the psychological functioning of Polish patients before and after arthroplasty, a prospective study was performed. Out of a pool of 102 potential participants, a total of 61 (34 females, 27 males) completed a purposely created survey, Brief-COPE followed by preoperative and postoperative Perceived Stress Scale, State Trait Anxiety Inventory and Satisfaction with Life Scale. Religious coping was not associated with: (1) perceived stress before or after surgery; (2) preoperative or postoperative anxiety; (3) life satisfaction. A two-factor ANOVA has shown that religious coping controlled by religiousness was related to better psychological functioning. Between- and within-subjects effects were observed for improvement in life satisfaction measured by split-plot ANOVA, which suggests (p < 0.05) that such improvement was greater among subjects of higher religious orientation. We concluded that religious strategies in dealing with stress measured by Brief-COPE were least likely to benefit patients of low-religious orientation. The study demonstrated the importance of core religious beliefs in predicting benefits derived from religiousness in the face of a crisis. This study showed that regardless of its effectiveness, turning to religion is common among Polish patients about to undergo surgery for osteoarthritis of the hip.
authors.affiliation: Psychosocial Rehabilitation Unit, Medical University of Lodz, Pl. Hallera 1, bud. VII, p. 106, 90-647, Lodz, Poland, patryk.stecz@e.umed.lodz.pl.
authors.forename: Patryk
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stecz
authors.forename: Józef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kocur
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D001178:Arthroplasty / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011044:Poland; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012069:Religion and Psychology