Question

Explain what is meant by coherence. Why is it important?

Answer 1

Coherence is systematic or logical connectivity or consistency.

In the context of healthcare, coherence is usually used in neurology as well as in research.

In neurology, coherence is sought in speech during clinical examination. The presence of coherent speech implies integrity of the speech pathway. Incoherent speech implies a disruption of this pathway anywhere from the cerebral cortex till the muscles of tongue and oral cavity. Glasgow coma scale is a scale that is used to assess the status of neurological injury in patients. Speech is scored from 1 to 5 where a score of 1 implies severe neurological injury and 5 implies normal function. Incoherent speech is given a score of 2.

In the context of research, coherence if findings is sought in research work. Again, coherence is a sign of integrity and statistical significance. When the findings are non convergent, the integrity of the study methods used and the significance of findings should be seen with doubt.