Sense of coherence and quality of life in the recovery of women and men with myocardial infarction: A 10-year follow-up study.

Abstract

Aim: Sense of coherence (SOC) allows individuals to be more resilient to adverse life events and it is associated with quality of life (QoL), but its long-term effects are unknown in patients with myocardial infarction. This study aimed to examine longitudinal variations of SOC and associations between SOC at baseline and QoL at a 10-year follow-up in relation to gender.

Method and results: This longitudinal study included 61 patients, 16 women and 45 men with a mean age of 57.1 ± 6.5 years, who completed a questionnaire package in relation to hospital discharge, two years, five years, and 10 years later. The questionnaire package included the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-13), 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12), and Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ). Data were analysed with repeated measure ANOVA and linear regression. Overall, SOC was stable over the 10-year follow-up, but Comprehensibility improved significantly (p = 0.003). A significant main effect for gender was shown regarding SOC total (p = 0.032) and Comprehensibility (p = 0.034); women reported lower SOC compared to men. An interaction effect between gender and time was shown in Comprehensibility (p = 0.007), as the differences between genders decreased over time. SOC-13 was significantly associated with all dimensions of QoL; three significant interaction effects showed that the associations was true for women but not men.

Conclusion: SOC is an important aspect to consider in the care of patients with myocardial infarction, as it is associated with long-term QoL, particularly for women. This means that SOC can also be used to identify patients who are at risk for poor QoL after a myocardial infarction.