Religious Coping and Health-Promoting Lifestyle among Iranian Infertile Women

Background: Infertility is recognized as a stressful and critical experience worldwide and across cultures and disrupts individual, marital, family, and social stability. Religion is a source of support in dealing with health-related problems. This study aimed to examine the relationship between religious coping and health-promoting lifestyle (HPL) among Iranian infertile women. Methods: A cross-sectional correlational study was performed on 177 infertile women referring to Sarem super specialized infertility treatment and research center in Tehran- Iran in 2019. The subjects were recruited by continuous sampling. The data in this study were collected using a demographic information form, the Iranian Religious Coping Scale (IRCS), and the Health-Promoting Lifestyle profile-II (HPLP-II). Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 22 software, including independent t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient. The significance level was set at P < 0.05. Results: The highest mean was related to active religious coping (7.86±2.39). Passive religious coping (2.89±1.76) followed by negative feelings towards God (3.95±2.07) had the lowest mean scores. The mean score of health-promoting lifestyle was (128.34 ± 13.46; the score range was 52-208) that was lower than the median score of the scale. There was a weak significant inverse relationship between negative feelings towards God and HPL (r =-0.19; P =0.013) and its three subscales including physical activity (r =-0.18; P =0.019), nutrition (r =-0.21; P =0.011), and interpersonal relationships (r =-0.21; P =0.01). A weak, yet statistically significant inverse relationship was observed between passive religious coping and interpersonal relations (r = -0.18; P = 0.029). Conclusion: Considering that the mean HPL score of infertile women was lower than the median score of the scale, community-oriented education and care programs should be considered to improve HPL in infertile women. Teaching and strengthening positive/active religious coping strategies to improve HPL are also suggested.