Dyslipidaemia and impaired well-being in middle-aged women reporting low Sense of Coherence - The Women's Health in the Lund Area (WHLA) Study

Objective - A low Sense of Coherence (SOC) is a concept related to a feelin g of ill health. Not much is known about possible relationships between SOC and biological factors. Setting - Population-based study of middle-aged women. Subjects and methods - Four-hundred-and-fifty women participated as a subgr oup of a larger study of cardiovascular risk factor screening. A self-admin istered questionnaire with 29 questions related to SOC was completed in add ition to questions on social background factors and medical history. Results - The mean score of SOC was 150.9 (SD 23.4). HDL cholesterol was lo wer (p < 0.05) and triglyceride levels higher (p < 0.05) in women with low SOC (1.5 and 2.1 mmol/L) compared to women with medium (1.8 and 1.4 mmol/L) or high SOC (1.7 and 1.5 mmol/L). In multiple regression analysis, a low H DL cholesterol level was still significantly associated with low SOC (p < 0 .05) after adjustment for possible confounders. Women reporting low SOC wer e further characterised by a higher proportion of subjects with regular cli nical visits for health care (49% vs 35% and 29%). Conclusions - Middle-aged women reporting low SOC showed Lower HDL choleste rol and higher triglyceride levels, and reported more clinical visits and m edical symptoms than women with higher SOC.