title: Sense of coherence, spirituality, stress and quality of life in chronic illness.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH 44115, USA. c.delgado@csuohio.edu
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Delgado
mesh_terms: 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