Influence of Religiosity and Spirituality on the Adoption of Behaviors of Epidemiological Relevance in Emerging and Re-Emerging Diseases: The Case of Dengue Fever

Abstract

Emerging and re-emerging diseases are responsible for recurrently affecting the health of human populations. Although people are aware of these diseases, they do not seem to adopt prophylactic methods to prevent them. Here, we propose to investigate the influence of religiosity/spirituality (R/S) on the frequency of the adoption of prophylactic behaviors and the perception of risk of vulnerability to the disease. We used dengue, which is a seasonal arboviral disease in Brazil, as a model. To measure the dimensions of religiosity/spirituality, we used the Portuguese version of the Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiosity/Spirituality questionnaire. All data were obtained through a structured questionnaire that was answered online by 204 volunteers living throughout Brazil. Our results indicate that R/S is predictive of the frequency of prophylactic behaviors (p = 0.0222, R2 = 0.025) and the perception of risk of vulnerability (p < 0.05, R2 = 0.07). We argue that the effect of R/S on health occurs through the promotion of salutogenic mechanisms promoted by socialization in religious environments. This can help understand social dynamics in epidemiological crises and mitigate the influence of these diseases.