Relationship between mortality risk and health-related factors and sense of coherence in residents ofa rural area in Japan

Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between mortality risk and health-related factors and sense of coherence (SOC) in a cohort study of residents from a rural area of Japan. Materials and Methods: We followed-up with 3,416 baseline respondents over 3.76 years. Residents were subdivided into three groups based on SOC score: low, middle, and high. We used the total SOC score of the low-level SOC group as the standard, and calculated the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for the middle- and high-level SOC groups. For all three SOC groups, health-related factors were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance, and lifestyle and history were analyzed using the χ(2) test. Results were also analyzed by gender and age. Results: For men in the low-level SOC group, the SMR value was defined as 1, and for men in the high-level SOC group (0.44; 95% confidence interval: 0.11–0.77), the SMR value was significantly lower. There was a statistically significant reduction in the percentage of smokers in the men in the high-level SOC group. Conclusion: In this study, high-level SOC was associated with low mortality risk. This finding was particularly pronounced in the men.