African American women's health self-assessment: health status and the sense of coherence.

This descriptive study examines the relationship between health self-assessment, health status, and the sense of coherence (SOC) in a random sample of 48 African American women. Sense of coherence and health status were measured by Antonovsky's Orientation to Life Questionnaire and the Perception of Health Status Scale, respectively; health self-assessment was determined by placement on a rung of the Cantril ladder. Women who viewed their current health status as devoid of acute, chronic, or serious health problems had a significantly stronger SOC than those with serious, chronic, and degenerating health problems. Generally, women did not differ on the meaningfulness they attached to their lives based on their health status; however, women with no acute health concerns and those with serious health problems differed significantly on this subscale. The women's SOC was significantly different based on the amount of pain being experienced, particularly on the manageability scale, indicating their inability to handle pain. The women's overall health self-assessment was negatively related to their SOC. A strong SOC was negatively related to two dimensions of health status: perception of pain and current health status. A strong SOC was negatively related to overall health status. Implications to promote the health of African American women are discussed.