Sense of coherence among patients with cardiovascular disease and cancer undergoing surgery

The sense of coherence (SOC) among patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery was compared with that of patients undergoing surgery for gynecological and oral cancer by using the Japanese version of the SOC questionnaire. The patients in the former group were able to cope with their disease and manage the relationship between their lifestyle and the disease for a long time. Eventually, however, they opted for surgery because they were unable to obtain life insurance if they did not resort to treatments other than medicine. On the other hand, the patients in the latter group had to suddenly deal with a very stressful event (being diagnosed with cancer and having had to undergo surgery). However, their malignant tumors were completely excised during surgery because their cancer was at an early stage. The analysis revealed that the average SOC score of the former group was significantly higher than that of the latter group; furthermore, the score of the latter group was similar to the SOC score of the general population. A multiple regression analysis revealed that the principal determinants of the SOC scores were the diagnosis of the patients (the duration of their struggle with the illness) and their employment status. The SOC of employed persons was higher than that of unemployed persons.