Sense of coherence and hypertensive target organ damage

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Psychology

Background:

• Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular complications, including arterial stiffness and left ventricular hypertrophy.
• Sense of coherence (SOC) is a psychological construct reflecting an individual's ability to cope with life's stressors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the sense of coherence levels in hypertensive patients with and without arterial stiffness or left ventricular hypertrophy.
• To investigate the association between sense of coherence and specific hypertensive organ damage (TOD).

Main Methods:

• A study group of 93 hypertensive participants underwent clinical assessment, echocardiography, pulse wave velocity measurement, and psychological testing.
• Psychological testing included measures of comprehensibility, manageability, meaningfulness, and sense of coherence (SOC-29).

Main Results:

• Hypertensive patients with arterial stiffness (high pulse wave velocity) exhibited higher levels of comprehensibility and sense of coherence.
• No significant differences in sense of coherence were found between hypertensive individuals with and without left ventricular hypertrophy.

Conclusions:

• Sense of coherence may not be strongly associated with good somatic health in hypertensive patients.
• The findings question the diagnostic utility of the SOC-29 as a standalone tool for assessing hypertensive organ damage.
• Further research should consider sense of coherence in studies of hypertensive TOD development.