Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42755756›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in medicine2026

Spirituality, religious affiliation, and health in Germany: a cross-sectional study including Bayesian network modeling.

Christian S Kessler, Michael Jeitler, Miriam Ortiz, Benno Brinkhaus, Maren M Michaelsen, Julia K Schiele, Florian Jeserich, Tido von Schoen-Angerer, Michael Teut, Manfred Wischnewsky

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Article in Frontiers in medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Christian S Kessler *Department of Integrative Health Care and Prevention, University of Augsburg and University Hospital Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany.
Michael Jeitler *Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité - University Medical Center Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Miriam OrtizInstitute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité - University Medical Center Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Benno BrinkhausInstitute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité - University Medical Center Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Maren M MichaelsenDepartment of Integrative Health Care and Prevention, University of Augsburg and University Hospital Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany.
Julia K SchieleDepartment of Integrative Health Care and Prevention, University of Augsburg and University Hospital Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany.
Florian JeserichContilia Akademie, Essen, Germany.
Tido von Schoen-AngererCharité Competence Center for Traditional and Integrative Medicine, Charité - University Medical Center Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
Michael TeutInstitute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité - University Medical Center Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Manfred WischnewskyFaculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Spirituality has been proposed as a relevant dimension of health, yet its distribution in the general population and its associations with health-related factors remain insufficiently characterized. This study examined how self-reported spirituality and religious affiliation are distributed in Germany and how they are associated with chronic disease burden, health-related quality of life, nutrition-related attitudes, and attitudes toward traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine (TCIM). Methods: We conducted an anonymous cross-sectional online survey of adults living in Germany aged 18-75 years ( Results: Overall, 896 participants (22.0%) self-identified as spiritual, and 2,076 (51.1%) reported a religious affiliation. Women were overrepresented among spiritual participants (60.8%). Spirituality differed significantly by gender, age, Sinus-Milieus Conclusions: In this large German adult online sample, spirituality showed distinct socio-cultural patterning and was associated with nutrition-related attitudes, TCIM attitudes, and greater chronic disease burden. However, spirituality was not independently associated with health-related quality of life after adjustment for health status and chronic disease burden. Bayesian Network modeling offered an exploratory framework for examining these relationships. Further studies using more differentiated measures of spirituality and religion are needed in order to better understand, classify, and scientifically frame this complex field in a cross-disciplinary manner.

Indexed as

Bayesian networkcross-sectional surveyGermanyhealth-related quality of lifeonline surveyreligious affiliationspiritualityTCIM

Identifiers

PMID42755756
PMCPMC13581794

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.