Objective: To evaluate coping capacity of patients with Parkinson´s disease (PD) over 8 years of disease and investigate predictors for coping stability.

Background: Patients with PD need to cope with the progressive symptoms of the disease and their consequences in daily life. In 1984 Lazarus described coping as cognitive and behavioral changes in response to internal and/or external demands that the person struggles to meet. In 1987 Antonovsky proposed a salutogenic model to guide health promotion, and developed the Sense of Coherence (SOC) scale with 13 items (SOC-13). SOC-13 is a tool to assess individuals ‘outlook on life’, and their ability to comprehend, manage and find meaning in their lives. SOC aims to conceptualize how some people despite considerable stress manage to stay well. Studies of persons living with medical conditions or disability have shown great variability in SOC’s stability across individuals.

Method: Ninety-five PD patients (56 male) were assessed at baseline and at 1, 3, 5 and 8 years following diagnosis, using the SOC-13 scale, the motor part of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS III) and the subscales dealing with ADL and cognition of the Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39). The analyses were conducted under a linear mixed model framework.

Results: There was a slight linear decrease in SOC-13 over 8 years (p=<0.001), which affected women more than men (p=0.009). When accounting for the effect of time, the scores of the UPDRS III and the scores related to cognition and ADL of the PDQ-39 significantly and negatively influenced SOC-13, (p=0.01, p<0.001 and p<0.001 respectively).

Conclusion: The coping capacity of patients with PD decreased linearly, albeit slightly, over 8 years of disease, and was influenced by motor symptoms, ADL performance, cognition and gender. Women showed a greater decrease of coping capacity than men.

References: Lazarus RS. Stress, appraisal, and coping. Folkman S, editor. New York: New York : Springer; 1984. Antonovsky A. Unraveling the mystery of health : how people manage stress and stay well. 1. ed.. ed. San Francisco, Calif.: San Francisco, Calif. : Jossey-Bass; 1987.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/can-people-with-parkinsons-disease-rely-on-their-coping-capacity-over-time-a-longitudinal-study-using-the-sense-of-coherence-soc-scale/