Impact of sense of coherence on quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis

Impact of sense of coherence on work ability: A cross-sectional study among Croatian nurses

Introduction

Aimed at preparing the basis for planning evidence-based public health measures for preservation/ improvement of nurses’ work ability (WA), the objective was to assess the relationship between WA and sense of coherence (SOC).

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018 among 713 nurses in Croatia. The association between poor WA index (PWAI) and SOC score (SOCS), adjusted for possible confounders, was determined by binary logistic regression analysis.

Results

The results of univariate logistic regression analysis showed a statistically significant negative association between SOCS and PWAI (OR=0.977, 95% CI 0.968 – 0.986, p<0.001). The results of multivariate logistic analysis showed an even stronger statistically significant negative association between SOCS and PWAI (OR=0.966, 95% CI 0.954 – 0.977, p<0.001) when adjusted for confounders.

Conclusions

The present study suggested SOC as an important health promoting resource of nurses which might offer protection regarding work-related stress. Weak SOC could be an important explanatory factor of poor WA. Accordingly, improving SOC by implementing health promotion measures in nurses’ workplace could be an important way to increase the WA among nurses.

Sense of Coherence and Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: The Role of Physical and Neurological Disability

Multiple sclerosis is a progressive demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that can lead to permanent disability and significantly impact the quality of life. The present study explores the relationship between neurological disability and disease symptoms, quality of life, and the level of sense of coherence, which is an important resource for coping with the disease. EDSS, GNDS, SOC-29, and MSIS-29 were used in the presented study. The study group consisted of 137 people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The study showed the correlation between most of the analyzed variables. Mood disability and fatigue were significant predictors of the sense of coherence and explained 34% of its variance. Physical disability and fatigue served as significant predictors of the physical aspect of quality of life, explaining 49% of its variance. Fatigue and sense of coherence were significant predictors of the psychological aspect of quality of life, explaining 47% of the variance. In studies on a group of people with multiple sclerosis, it is worth considering, in addition to the level of disability, also invisible symptoms, such as fatigue or mood disability, which are important for the quality of life and the level of resources. As this study suggests, a sense of coherence is a resource essential for the quality of life of people with disabilities.

Physical Activity, Resilience, Sense of Coherence and Coping in People with Multiple Sclerosis in the Situation Derived from COVID-19

The confinement forced by COVID-19 can have repercussions on the health of people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The objective of this study is to analyze the relationships between physical activity, a sense of coherence, resilience and coping among people diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis during the health emergency situation. To achieve this goal, this transversal descriptive study included 84 patients that belonged to multiple sclerosis associations during the period of confinement. Participants filled out the Physical Activity (IPAQ-SF), Sense of Coherence (SOC-13), Resilience Scale (ER-14) and coping (COPE-28) questionnaires. The results showed that the average age was 46.9 and that 67.9% had Relapsing Remittent Multiple Sclerosis diagnosed on average 13.9 years ago. They had a high degree (33.3%) and moderate degree (34.5%) of physical activity, high levels of resilience, while the level of a sense of coherence was average and the most commonly used strategies for coping were active confrontation and religion. Physical activity was not related to the rest of the studied variables, but there were correlations between the other variables. The people with multiple sclerosis who belong to patient associations have remained physically active during the obligatory confinement period and have elevated degrees of resilience and an average sense of coherence, as well as using suitable coping strategies, which is why the social-health resource of belonging to a patient association could be boosting these variables that are beneficial to their health.