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The “Sense of Coherence” and the coping capacity of patients with Parkinson disease

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 August 2012

Gisela Pusswald*
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Martina Fleck
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Johann Lehrner
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Dietrich Haubenberger
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Germain Weber
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Eduard Auff
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Gisela Pusswald, PhD, Department of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria. Phone: +00431404005772; Fax: +00431404005714. Email: Gisela.pusswald@meduniwien.ac.at.

Abstract

Background: Antonovsky's salutogenic model of the “Sense of Coherence” (SOC) is an important resource in dealing with chronic diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate SOC as a psychological factor and its correlation with illness, subjective well-being, and health-related quality of life (QoL) in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) compared to patients with other chronic diseases.

Methods: Fifty-one patients suffering from PD and 59 participants with other chronic non-neurological diseases took part in this study. The PD patients were assessed through medical routine examinations and all participants were asked to complete several questionnaires for psychological assessment. In order to compare controls with the PD group, t-tests, U-tests, and multivariate analysis were conducted. Multiple regression analysis was calculated to identify predictor variables.

Results: Patients with PD were characterized by lower SOC and higher scores concerning depression compared to the control group (CG). Furthermore, the PD group showed fewer active coping strategies and lower scores concerning well-being. There were correlations between depression, coping, well-being and QoL, and SOC. The SOC had a particular predictive value with regards to the outcome “quality of life” and coping strategies.

Conclusions: There are a number of differences regarding psychological characteristics of coping mechanisms in neurological and non-neurological patients. The SOC correlated with several psychological factors; however, there was no correlation with medical data. The SOC predicts scores pertaining coping mechanism and health-related QoL.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2012

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