The Interrelationship Between Hypertension and Blood Pressure, Attendance at Religious Services, and Race/Ethnicity

The relationships between race/ethnicity and hypertension or blood pressure (BP), as well as frequency of religious services attendance and hypertension/BP are well documented. However, the association between these three factors is poorly understood. Using national data, this interrelationship was assessed in non-Hispanic whites and blacks, and Mexican-Americans (n = 12,488). Compared to those who never attended services, whites who attended services weekly had lower odds of hypertension, as did blacks who attended more than weekly. There was no relationship between attendance and hypertension among Mexican-Americans. Attendance was inversely related to systolic BP for all groups, but more so for whites and blacks compared to Mexican-Americans. These results further demonstrate the benefits of increased attendance at religious services on hypertension/BP, but suggest that these benefits were not as advantageous for all.