Buddhist religious practices and blood pressure among elderly in rural U ttaradit P rovince, northern T hailand

The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between B uddhist religious practices and blood pressure. A cross‐sectional survey of B uddhist religious practices and blood pressure was conducted with 160 B uddhist elderly in rural U ttaradit, northern T hailand. After controlling for the variables of gender, status, education, salary, underlying hypertension, exercise, salt intake, and taking antihypertensive medications, it was found that lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure is associated with the B uddhist religious practice of temple attendance. The B uddhist older people who regularly attended a temple every B uddhist H oly day (which occurs once a week) were found to have systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings lower than people who did not attend as regularly. It is recommended that nurses advocate for temple attendance in the care protocols for older B uddhist hypertensive patients both in T hailand and internationally.