The personality pattern of patients with chronic peptic ulcer. A case-control study

The personality assessment of 96 patients with gastric ulcer (GU) and 70 patients with duodenal ulcer (DU) was carried out using the Cattell Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16 PF). Two control groups were used; one group comprised community controls and the other patient controls--that is, patients with cholelithiasis. Three of the four personality characteristics that distinguished female GU and/or DU patients from controls--emotional instability, tension, and anxiety--and the two characteristics that distinguished male GU patients--low enthusiasm and low self-control--are components of neuroticism. Female GU patients in exacerbation resembled those in remission, and GU and DU patients had similar personality profiles. Although a distinct personality pattern has yet to be identified in peptic ulcer, the results of this study and others suggest that both GU and DU are associated with the personality abnormalities of anxiety and neuroticism.