Recently in Japan, concern has emerged over metabolic syndrome as a multi-risk factor for the development of atherosclerotic disease, and visceral fat obesity has also become a serious issue [1]. In 2008, the results of a government study reported that 1 of 2 male participants and 1 of 5 female participants over 40 years of age had either metabolic syndrome or were at risk for metabolic syndrome. This finding suggests that lifestyle quality must be improved and maintained for the health of Japanese men and women [2]. Simply reducing food intake, however, does not lead to a healthy, obesity-free lifestyle [3]. Those at risk must improve a variety of lifestyle habits, such as exercise, sleep, and diet, in addition to improving food intake. Improving quality of life with regard to health and maintaining it requires an overall reassessment of lifestyle habits, rather than focus on only a single aspect.

Since the enactment of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act approximately 20 years ago in Japan, remarkable progress has been made in the social advancement of women, resulting in a large number of women holding positions of responsibility. Along with this advancement, Japanese women are likely experiencing the increased social stress traditionally experienced by men, and therefore more attention should be paid to the health of women from a lifestyle disease perspective. In NIPPON DATA 80, the predictive 10-year risk factors for death due to coronary artery disease in men were blood pressure level, blood sugar level, and cholesterol level. For women, the likelihood of death from coronary artery disease was not sufficient to provide significant predictive factors [4]. Sex differences might also be evident in health habits, beliefs, and the experience of stress [5]. Thus, more effective predictive indices are needed for health maintenance in women.

An indicator of the ability to establish and maintain quality of life in relation to health is a sense of coherence (SOC), the central notion proposed in Antonovsky’s salutogenesis theory [6]. SOC represents the capacity to maintain health and manage a variety of stressors in daily life. It comprises the three sub-concepts of 1) comprehensibility, 2) manageability, and 3) meaningfulness.

Although only a few reports exist, it is generally thought that subjects with a high SOC are able to cope more effectively with stressors by utilizing multiple general resistance resources to choose healthier lifestyle behaviors [7-9]. This effect differs among samples, however, and lifestyle behaviors reflected by the SOC remain unclear. We reported in a previous study that the SOC of university students is still being formed and does not reflect healthy lifestyle behaviors [10].

In the present study, a cross-sectional survey of middle-aged workers examined how SOC relates to health status. SOC, as an ability to maintain health, relates to lifestyle (cognition, behavior, and dietary habits), not only for deriving or being satisfied with well-being, but for health-rated quality of life. This study further aimed to determine the characteristic lifestyle factors for maintaining physical and psychological health.

We analyzed the data of all 618 respondents (412 women, 206 men) from whom complete valid responses were obtained. All respondents resided in greater Tokyo or surrounding areas and were regular full-time employees. Age and SOC are shown in Table 1. No significant differences in age or SOC were detected between men and women. Survey reliability was confirmed with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.856 for SOC.

Table 2 shows the relationship between SOC and selfrated health, satisfaction, and stress. Self-rated health and level of satisfaction were significantly higher and the level of stress experienced on a daily basis was significantly lower in men and women with high SOC.