Association between the sense of coherence 13-item version scale score of pregnant women in the second trimester of pregnancy and threatened premature birth.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to determine whether the score of the sense of coherence 13-item version (SOC-13) scale in the second trimester of pregnancy is associated with threatened premature birth.

Methods: All the subjects gave their informed written consent before their participation in the study. A self-reported questionnaire survey was conducted on the pregnant women at approximately 18 weeks of pregnancy. The questionnaire consisted of items on demographic characteristics, perinatal abnormalities, stress perception scale (SPS), and SOC-13 scale. Approximately 30 weeks of pregnancy after the first survey, we surveyed whether any treatment had been provided for threatened premature birth during the course of the current pregnancy. The study period was from December 2007 to February 2010. One hundred and seventy-seven pregnant women participated in the study, but only the data from 151 pregnant women were analyzed.

Results: Forty-three (28.5%) pregnant women had threatened premature birth and received some treatment. Logistic regression analysis was carried out with threatened premature birth as the dependent variable and age, childbirth history, smoking habit, history of miscarriage or premature birth in previous pregnancies, SPS score, and SOC-13 scale score as the independent variables. It was shown that SOC-13 scale score affected threatened premature birth (p < 0.001) and that a low SOC-13 scale score was associated with threatened premature birth.

Conclusions: This study suggests that the SOC-13 scale score in the second trimester of pregnancy could be of great value in clinical health care of pregnant women with a risk of threatened premature birth in the subsequent course of pregnancy.