Impact of Spiritual Behavior on Self-Reported Illness: A Cross-Sectional Study among Women in the Kailali District of Nepal

BACKGROUND: Different health behaviors influence health and illness. Spiritual well-being is one of the most important aspects of health promotion. The aim of this study was to identify the association between spiritual behavior in relation to meditation, worship, and physical exercise during yoga with self-reported disease/illness among women of the Kailali district of Nepal. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study with 453 randomly selected women in the Kailali district of Nepal within 1 municipality and 4 village development committees (VDC) using cluster sampling. We used a semi-structured interview to collect the data for selected respondents. Socioeconomics, lifestyle, self-care, and spiritual behavior variables were independent variables, and self-reported illness in the past year was a dependent variable. Descriptive statistics, chi square, hierarchical logistic regression for odds ratio, and 95% CI were used when appropriate. RESULTS: Study results showed that 89% of participants were from the rural area, 29.3% were housewives, 51.4% had no formal education, 43.2% used tobacco, 42.1% did yoga, and 16.9% engaged in regular worship. Self-reported illness was associated with safe toilet-using behavior, tobacco use, junk food consumption, yoga and regular exercise, worship, and regular sleeping habits. Comparing odds ratios and 95% CIs, the women who had safe toilet behavior and did not use tobacco were 2.48 (1.98–7.98) and 2.86 (1.74–7.34) times less likely to be ill, respectively. Likewise, women who consumed junk food; did not regularly exercise, meditate, or worship; and had irregular sleeping habits were 1.65 (1.32–4.61), 2.81(1.91–5.62), 2.56 (2.01–4.88), 4.56 (3.91–8.26), and 2.45 (2.12–5.03) times more likely to become ill, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our study concludes that spiritual behavior is effective for better health and low risk for disease occurrence. A spiritual health policy and separate curriculum for basic education and medical education should be promoted globally, and further research is recommended.