Effects of praise dance on the quality of life of Chinese women

Objective: Religion, spirituality, and health are inseparable in human history. Yet, the effects of religion and spirituality on health are controversial. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of praise dance on the quality of life (QoL) of women with or without medically diagnosed diseases. Method: This was a pretest-posttest study with one convenience sample that took place at Praise Dance Association Hong Kong (PDA) centers. Two hundred and fifty-six Chinese adult females participated. They were aged ≥45 years and had joined the PDA centers within 4 weeks of the commencement of this study. The intervention lasted for 12 weeks, and the subjects practiced praise dance three times a week in a group with a coach in the first four weeks and subsequently on their own or with the same group at least once a week. Each dancing session lasted for 30 min. The subjects completed the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-BREF (HK) questionnaire before and after the intervention of the praise dance. Results: The findings showed significant improvement in the psychological well-being of the participants, regardless of their religious background. The improvement in their physical domain was statistically marginal. Conclusion: This is the first empirical study to test the benefit of praise dance on QoL. Promoting praise dance could be beneficial to the psychological well-being of women, regardless of their religious backgrounds. The effect of religion or spirituality on QoL warrants further investigation.