title: Sense of coherence and mortality in men and women in the EPIC-Norfolk United Kingdom prospective cohort study.
abstract: This study tested the hypothesis that a personality disposition defined by a strong sense of coherence is associated with a reduced risk of mortality. The authors prospectively examined, for < or =6 years, the relation between a strong sense of coherence and mortality due to all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer among 20,579 participants aged 41-80 years from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk Study in the United Kingdom. Data were collected in 1996-2002. Participants were recruited by post from general practice age-sex registers and subsequently completed a postal assessment of their sense of coherence. During follow-up, 1,024 deaths were recorded. A strong sense of coherence was associated with a 30% reduction in mortality from all causes (rate ratio=0.69, p<0.0001), cardiovascular disease (rate ratio=0.70, p=0.001), and cancer (rate ratio=0.74, p=0.003), independent of age, sex, and prevalent chronic disease. These associations were consistent by sex, except that no association was observed for cancer mortality in women. The association for all-cause mortality remained after adjustment for cigarette smoking history, social class, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, cholesterol, hostility, and neuroticism (rate ratio=0.76, p=0.002). Results suggest that a strong sense of coherence may confer some resilience to the risk of chronic disease.
authors.affiliation: Strangeways Research Laboratory, Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom. paul.surtees@srl.cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Surtees
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wainwright
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Luben
authors.forename: Kay-Tee
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Khaw
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Day
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001290:Attitude; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality* / Q000523:psychology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000523:psychology*; D010551:Personality; D011446:Prospective Studies; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology