(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A weekly dose of a religious service may be just what the doctor ordered for the elderly.

A new study of 1,174 healthy men and women in their 70s reveals those who participate in religious activities tended to be healthier. Participants went to a church, synagogue, or mosque at least once a week. Researchers report they had a significantly slower decline in their lung function over the following year than those who did not attend religious services regularly.

Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston used peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) -- a measure of the volume of air a person can exhale from their lungs -- to determine participants' lung function.

When the study began in 1988, 65 percent of women and 51 percent of men said they went to religious services regularly. Researchers followed them for an average of 4.6 years. During that time PEFR declined twice as much in participants who did not attend religious services compared with those who did.

Results show those who were more religious were also more physically active and were less likely to smoke. But researchers say those differences were not the reasons for better lung function.

The authors write, "Overall findings support the hypothesis that religious activity may play a protective role in maintaining pulmonary health among the elderly."

SOURCE: Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 2006;32:245-253