Potential influences of religiosity and religious coping strategies on people with diabetes

Table 1 Results on potential influence of religiosity on people with diabetes

Refs	Study objectives	Method/sample	Results
Darvyri et al[6]	To evaluate the impact of spirituality/religiosity on T2DM management. To summarize the evidence regarding T2DM outcomes as they are related to religiosity or spirituality of patients	Qualitative studies (cross-sectional)	A positive relationship between religiosity/spirituality and improved T2DM management. Participation in church and spiritual beliefs had ameliorating effects on stress levels and glycemic control
Kilbourne et al[11]	To examine the impact of multiple dimensions of religiosity on depression among a lower income population of people with DM	Cross-sectional study (multi-centered random sampling)	Religious resources increase psychological resiliency among those managing the chronic stress of diabetes
Permana[12]	To identify, appraise and synthesize the best available evidence worldwide, including Indonesia, related to how people with DM perceive the role of religion and/or spirituality in managing daily self-care	A critical appraisal using an adapted CASP tool	Relationship with God or the transcendent, religion or spirituality, religious practices, and social support are crucial for people with DM
Yuniarti et al[13]	To examine the mediation states of the variables in three quantitative studies	Conducted using a quantitative approach, using 68 participants aged 40–75 yr. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used for the data collection	Self-acceptance was significantly related to depression. Religiosity was significantly associated with stress
Berardi et al[32]	To determine if fatalistic beliefs were associated with elevated levels of glycated hemoglobin. To establish the role of religiosity in this relationship	Cross-sectional survey (simple random sampling)	Addressing fatalistic attitudes may be a viable strategy for improving DM management. Greater understanding of the interplay between religiosity and fatalism in this context is required
Rivera-Hernandez[35]	To examine the relationships between religiosity, social support, disease care and control, and self-rated health of people living in Mexico diagnosed with DM	Structural equation modelling using the Mexican Health and Aging Study	Emotional support from spouse/partner directly affects disease care and control, and health. No direct relationship between religiosity and health; however, religiosity was positively associated with disease care and management. No significant relationship with health
Nyarko et al[36]	To examine the influence of the illness perception of patients with DM and their levels of religiosity on their mental health problems	Cross-sectional survey study design	Patients’ level of religiosity was not correlated with their mental health problems. Illness perception was positively correlated with their general mental health, and specific problems, such as somatization, obsessive-compulsion, depression, anxiety, and psychoticism
Namageyo-Funa et al[37]	To explore how Black men use religion or spirituality to cope with DM management	In-depth interviews with 30 Black men recruited from a diabetes clinic in Atlanta, Georgia	Religion and spirituality use as a coping strategy for DM management. The following coping strategies were reported: Prayer and belief in God, keeping me alive, turning things over to God, changing my unhealthy behaviors, supplying my needs, reading the Bible, and religious or spiritual individuals helping me

T2DM: Type 2 diabetes mellitus; DM: Diabetes mellitus; CASP: Critical Appraisal Skills Programme.

Table 2 Results on potential influence of religious coping on people with diabetes

Refs	Study objectives	Method/sample	Results
Amadi et al[5]	To assess the association between religiosity and coping style with the outcome of depression and diabetes	112 participants with diabetes and an equal number with depression consecutively, matching for gender	High intrinsic and extrinsic religiosities are likely to be associated with positive coping skills and better treatment outcome in patients with depression or diabetes
Darvyri et al[6]	To evaluate the impact of spirituality/religiosity on T2DM management	PubΜed was searched thoroughly for relevant papers	A positive relationship between religiosity/spirituality and improved T2DM management
Saffari et al[9]	To investigate the impact of religiosity on medication adherence and HRQoL	793 adults (> 65 yr, 45% female) were recruited from four diabetes care centers and followed for one year	Religious coping and social support were recognized as the significant mediators between religiosity and medication adherence
Sukarno et al[48]	To explore the meaning of religiousness on diabetes management among T2DM patients	Selecting a concept, determining the analysis purpose, identifying a model case, investigating attributes, antecedents, and consequences, as well as defining empirical referents	Attributes of religiousness have a role in DM care management context, including religious belief, religious practice, religious support, and religious coping
Newton et al[50]	To examine the role of specific religious beliefs in the coping process	Sample of 103 parents of children with disabilities	Loss appraisal mediated the relation of vertical focus and God image with engagement coping. The appraisal that God is in control further explained the link between vertical focus and engagement coping
Nasirzadeh et al[55]	To evaluate the relationship between religious beliefs and coping strategies in students at Shiraz University	251 college students were selected by using a stratified random sampling procedure. Carver’s coping strategies questionnaire and Gorsuch's God concept scale were used for data collection	Problem-focused coping strategy correlated positively with the benevolent, Omni-ness, valuable God concept and negatively with the irrelevant, punishing, distinctness God concept
Korsah et al[56]	To explore the spiritual coping experiences of patients with diabetes mellitus in a Ghanaian hospital	The hermeneutic phenomenological approach to qualitative research was employed. Data were audio-recorded from both type 1 and 2 diabetes patients through one-on-one interviews	As noted by diabetes patients from their spiritual coping encounters, a disturbing experience was the exploitation and abuse in the form of fasting and over-starving by their spiritual healers in the deception of healing diabetes
Choi et al[51]	To explore how religion and spirituality impacted attitudes about self-management practices among African Americans with homelessness histories. To understand resilience in diabetes care practices	Qualitative semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 42 African Americans > 18 yr	Findings emphasized the importance of spirituality, religious beliefs, and coping strategies in diabetes self-care activities
Yazla et al[53]	To investigate the relationship of religious beliefs and forgiveness in diabetic patients with various socio-demographic characteristics, emotional problems, and glycemic control	Comprise 100 patients diagnosed with T2DM. Data collection form, the Scale of Forgiveness and Religiosity, Problem Areas in Diabetes Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Audit of Diabetes-Dependent Quality of Life were used	A statistically significant relationship between the scores of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the religious belief scales; forgiveness scale points; and the Beck Depression Inventory
How et al[54]	To determine the relationships between religiosity, religions, and glycemic control of T2DM	A cross-sectional study conducted at an urban, university-based, teaching outpatient clinic	Religiosity had a negative correlation with lower FPG but no correlation was found with hemoglobin A1c

T2DM: Type 2 diabetes mellitus; DM: Diabetes mellitus; HRQoL: Health-related quality of life; FPG: Fasting plasma glucose.