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Chronic haemodialysis and personality.
M C Ventura1, R González, A Alarcón
1General Hospital Son Dureta, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
|January 1, 1989
Summary
Hemodialysis significantly impacts patient personality, initially increasing neuroticism and decreasing extraversion. Over time, neuroticism levels decrease as patients adapt to their chronic condition.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Nephrology
- Medical Psychology
Background:
- Chronic kidney disease necessitates long-term hemodialysis.
- Hemodialysis patients experience significant psychological stress.
- Personality changes in patients undergoing chronic treatment are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of time under hemodialysis treatment on patient personality.
- To compare personality traits between patients with different durations of hemodialysis.
- To assess personality differences between hemodialysis patients and a control group.
Main Methods:
- Employed the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) to assess personality variables.
- Utilized a t-test for statistical analysis of personality differences.
- Compared a hemodialysis group (EXT, n=62) with a control group (CON, n=33).
- Subdivided the hemodialysis group into those under treatment for less than 4 years (EX1) and more than 4 years (EX2).
Main Results:
- Significant differences in neuroticism (N), extraversion (E), and lie/dissimulation (L) were found between experimental subgroups and between experimental and control groups.
- Hemodialysis patients (EXT) exhibited high neuroticism (mean=73.1), low extraversion (mean=41.8), and low lie/dissimulation (mean=29.9).
- Patients on hemodialysis for over 4 years (EX2) showed significant decreases in scores across all three personality dimensions (N, E, L) compared to those treated for less than 4 years (EX1).
Conclusions:
- Chronic illness and hemodialysis initially induce high neuroticism as a stress response.
- Over time, awareness of the chronic condition leads to a decrease in neuroticism.
- Increased introversion and a diminished use of denial (lie/dissimulation) become more prominent as coping mechanisms in long-term hemodialysis patients.