The sense of coherence and the attachment to God among oncological patients and their quality of life

Introduction: The sense of coherence and the attachment to God are important personal resources, particularly as far as the quality of life domain is concerned.

Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the relation between the sense of coherence and the attachment to God with the quality of life among the oncological patients.

Material and methods: The study included 50 patients of the Oncology Centre, aged 23-76. The viariables were measured with Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-29), Attachment to God Questionnaire, EORTC QLQ-C30 Questionnaire (version 3.0) and a survey.

Results: The results indicated the relation between the sense of coherence and attachment to God with the quality of life among the oncological patients. Respondent patients’ quality of life differed in socio-demographic factors sex, whereas age was positively related to quality of life. Strong sense of coherence was significantly related to a higher quality of life, better cognitive, emotional and role functioning. The increase of trust in relationship to God is correlated to better role functioning, whereas greater anxiety in relationship to God decreases social functioning and intensifies somatic symptoms.

Conclusions: The results of this study permit to look upon the sense of coherence and the attachment to God as important personal resources of oncological patients and as predictors of the quality of life.