Sense of coherence, spirituality, stress and quality of life in chronic illness.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between sense of coherence and spirituality and their association with perceptions of stress, and quality of life.


METHODS
Questionnaires mailed to nonhospitalized patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Data analyses included descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlations, multiple regressions, and ANOVA.


RESULTS
High sense of coherence (SOC) and spirituality were correlated with low stress and high quality of life (QoL). Neither SOC nor spirituality related significantly to objective symptom severity. In regression analyses 73.2% of the variance in QoL was explained by SOC, the FEV1/FVC ratio, and functional ability.


CONCLUSIONS
Psychosocial factors are important in patients' cognitive interpretations of illness. SOC and spirituality may buffer stress in the context of chronic illness.
Delgado
Cheryl
C
School of Nursing, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH 44115, USA. c.delgado@csuohio.edu
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D029181:Spirituality; D013315:Stress, Psychological