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Many previous studies have shown a relationship between Antonovsky's sense of coherence (SOC) and mental disorders. However, scant data are available about the association between SOC and the risk of undergoing a medical consultation for a mental disorder. The aim of this study was to examine the association between SOC and the risk of undergoing a medical consultation for a mental disorder among Japanese office workers.
Methods
In this cohort study, 1822 Japanese workers aged 20-70 years in 2005 were followed up until August 2007 using their medical expenditure records. A mental disorder was defined as mood disorders (F30-F39) and neurotic, stress-related, and somatoform disorders (F40-F48) according to the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision (ICD-10). Risk ratios of undergoing a medical consultation for a mental disorder were calculated using a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model.
Results
Of 1822 participants, 89 outpatients were observed undergoing a medical consultation for a mental disorder during a mean follow-up of 1.8 years. After adjustment for gender and age, the hazard ratio for undergoing a medical consultation for a mental disorder among those with a high total SOC compared with low total SOC was 0.45 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.29-0.71). Other hazard ratios for undergoing a medical consultation were 0.50 (95% CI: 0.32-0.76) among those with a high meaningfulness score compared with a low meaningfulness score, 0.55 (95% CI: 0.36-0.85) among those with a high manageability score compared with a low manageability score, and 0.57 (95% CI: 0.36-0.89) among those a high comprehensibility score compared with a low comprehensibility score.
Discussion
A low SOC may be associated with an increased risk of undergoing future medical consultation for mental disorders among Japanese workers.
Acknowledgement:
This work was supported by the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (KAKENHI: 70453404).