Denomination has health 'factor'

By Dot Kirby
Health Correspondent

The study examined religion and health

Religious denomination can be a factor in health, researchers in Northern Ireland have said.

A team at Belfast's Queen's University broke the population into six groups to track health and mortality trends.

They found that, overall, Catholics had higher death rates - with the study showing a clear link between this and deprivation.

Church of Ireland people had the highest risk of dying from heart disease, researchers said.

The research, published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, said fundamentalists lived longest and had the lowest risk of dying from lung cancer or alcohol related diseases.

Researchers split the population into Catholic, Presbyterian, Church of Ireland, Methodist, those who did not state what they were and mostly fundamentalist Christians.

It said there was a reduced accidental death risk for Methodists and 'other Christians' than the other denominations.