Sense of coherence in hypertensive patients in primary health care

Abstract

Introduction: High blood pressure is highly prevalent in the world. 37% of the Cuban population (over 15 years old) suffers from this disease. Aaron Antonovsky's salutogenic model provides a novel approach to nursing care from prevention and health promotion. Its main objective is to offer people strategies that allow them to use their own resources to improve their health through increasing the sense of coherence and general resistance resources.

Objective: Establish the relationship between the sense of coherence and age, sex and educational level in hypertensive people.

Methods: A cross-sectional, analytical, quantitative study was carried out. The sample consisted of 130 hypertensive adults, treated at medical office number 36 of the Hermanos Cruz health area, Province of Pinar del Río. The ages ranged from 20 to 60 years. The questionnaire composed of 13 items “Life Orientation” by Antonovski was used. Student's t statistical methods and analysis of variance were used to compare the relationship of the values resulting from the questionnaire with sex, age and educational level.

Results: 81.53% of hypertensive people have a sense of coherence at high and medium levels. The sense of coherence is related to educational level and age, but not to sex differences.

Conclusions: The sense of coherence is a salutogenic resource to take into account for the development of interventions and research that contribute to improving the coping strategies of hypertensive patients.