[Personality and rehabilitation in young adults with renal replacement therapy]

To evaluate the personality structure of young adults treated with renal replacement therapy (RRT) since childhood, we studied 36 patients who had commenced RRT before age 18. At the time of investigation 17 patients were dialyzed and 13 had a functioning renal transplant. Of the dialysis patients, 7 had been transplanted previously. These patients were compared to 26 young adults (minimum age 16) with diabetes mellitus type I (DM) of comparable duration. We used the FP1 test (half-form R; 138 items) by J. Fahrenberg to evaluate personality structure in patients and controls. The results show in general very little difference compared to published normal values and only slight differences between the groups studied. However, there was a trend for RRT patients to feel more aggressive and inhibited than patients with DM. Transplanted patients tended to feel more worried about health problems, while hemodialysis patients felt more self-assured than DM patients. Although it is difficult to assess the psychological burdens of chronic illness and the influence of continuing psychosocial support, it seems remarkable that a better than expected psychiatric adjustment has also been reported in other studies of patients with RRT. In conclusion, adult patients with RRT since childhood have a favorable personality profile as measured by self-evaluation with the FP1-R test, inspite of the well-known multiple medical and social handicaps of this patient population.