Research

Title: The Long-Term Effect of Spirituality and Religious Coping on Cardiac Rehabilitation
SSW Investigator: Amy Ai

This study will examine how spirituality and positive attitude affect the physical and mental health of 300 patients one year after a major medical stressor. It will investigate both their direct and indirect effects on long-term recovery. The study capitalizes on data currently being collected at the University of Michigan (UM) Medical Center for an NIH-funded study, designed by three investigators on the short-term adjustment of cardiac patients. In this earlier project, data from 430 patients (male and female, age 36 and above, all ethnic groups) at the UM Medical Center are being gathered through face-to-face and telephone interviews at (a) one-month prior to and (b) immediately before cardiac surgery, and (c) one-month postoperatively. A hospital-computerized database provides physical, medical, and surgical data and demographic information on study participants. The proposed study will enable investigators to conduct a cost-effective longitudinal study by adding a very important fourth-wave survey. All patients, who completed the first two interviews of the original NIH funded study, will be approached by mail asking if they would be interested in participating in the study. A trained interviewer will conduct telephone interview for these patients. Data from all waves of survey will be analyzed together using multivariate analysis.
Funding Sources: The Hartford Foundation Gerontological Society of America and John Templeton Foundation

Start/End Dates: September 2002 through August 2004