Personal control of development, sense of coherence and life satisfaction of persons suffering from chronic illnesses

Koristeći se salutogenim terminima, bolest osobu približava kraju “bolest” na kontinuumu “zdravlje-bolest”, no hoće li se osoba na tom kontinuumu nastaviti kretati k polu “zdravlje” ili “bolest”, prema Antonovskom, ovisi o njezinu osjećaju koherentnosti. Osoba visokog osjećaja koherentnosti bolest bi trebala doživjeti kao izazov s kojim se može nositi, smatra da suočavanje s bolešću za nju ima smisla, da je vrijedno ulaganja vremena i energije, i to djelujući na okolnosti u kojima se zbog bolesti našla (strategijama primarne kontrole), ali i prilagodbom sebe na te okolnosti (strategijama sekundarne kontrole). Osoba niskog osjećaja koherentnosti bolest može doživjeti kao kaznu, slabost i nepopravljivi gubitak, s kojom se ne zna, niti ima smisla nositi, te stoga izabire neadekvatne strategije suočavanja. Dijabetes i karcinom su bolesti s različitim tijekom i prognozom, te zahtjevima koje liječenje tih bolesti postavlja pred pacijenta, te bi uspješno suočavanje s tim bolestima zahtijevalo drugačije strategije kontrole. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je utvrditi postoji li razlika u osjećaju koherentnosti, strategijama kontrole i zadovoljstvu životom kod oboljelih od karcinoma, dijabetesa i zdravih osoba. Ispitivanje je provedeno na uzorku od 90 ispitanika, a koji čine tri skupine ispitanika izjednačene po dobi, spolu i naobrazbi (skupina osoba oboljelih od karcinoma, skupina osoba oboljelih od dijabetes mellitusa i skupina zdravih osoba). Utvrđeno je da osobe oboljele od karcinoma imaju značajno veći osjećaj koherentnosti i sekundarnu kontrolu, kako od dijabetičara, tako i od zdravih ispitanika, dok se dijabetičari i zdravi ne razlikuju na tim varijablama. Kod primarne i tercijarne kontrole, te zadovoljstva životom, nije utvrđena značajna razlika s obzirom na zdravstveni status ispitanika. Značajnim pozitivnim prediktorima zadovoljstva životom pokazali su se osjećaj koherentnosti i sekundarna kontrola.Using salutogenic terms, disease displaces a person closer to the “illness” end of the “health-illness” continuum, but whether the person continues to move towards “health” or “illness”, according to Antonovsky, depends on her sense of coherence. People with a higher sense of coherence should experience disease as a challenge, while coping with disease for them has a meaning, it’s worth the investment of time and energy. Those people act upon circumstances which lead to the illness (primary control strategies), and adapt themselves to these circumstances (secondary control strategies). People with a low sense of coherence should experience disease as a punishment, weakness and irreparable loss. They do not know how to cope, cannot make sense of their situation and therefore choose inadequate coping strategies. Diabetes and cancer are diseases with a different course and prognosis, as well as with different treatment requirements which these diseases pose to the patient, so successful coping with these diseases requires different management strategies. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a difference in the sense of coherence, control strategies and life satisfaction in patients with cancer, diabetes and healthy people. The research was conducted on a sample of 90 subjects, divided into three groups of subjects matched by age, sex and education (a group of people with cancer, a group with diabetes mellitus and a group of healthy individuals). It was found that people with cancer have a significantly higher sense of coherence and secondary control, compared to diabetics and healthy individuals, while diabetics and healthy individuals do not significantly differ on these variables. In primary and tertiary control, and life satisfaction, there were no significant differences with regard to the health status of the subjects. Significant positive predictors of life satisfaction were a sense of coherence and secondary control