Evaluation of the Association between Physical Health and Religion: A Literature Review

Physical health is influenced by various factors including religion. There are many questions regarding the impact of religious activities on physical health. Therefore, the aim of this study was to find the correlation between physical health and religion. Various databases including PubMed, Ovid, and Medline were investigated. Considering the inclusion criteria, 50 studies were found using the keyword-based information retrieval; though, only 12 papers were approved for the final analysis. Based on the literature review, there is no consensus regarding the impacts of religious practices on physical health; it is not clear whether religious activities result in better physical health and less severe musculoskeletal disorders, or are inversely related to physical health. There are various limitations observed in the available studies; therefore, reaching a firm conclusion might be no easy task. It is recommended that cross-sectional studies be carried out in various regions to find the association between religion and physical health.