Assessment of Personality in Inflammatory Bowel Disease by Using Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Questionnaire

Abstract

Background :

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, are chronic and debilitating conditions that their prevalence are growing. These diseases have association with psycho-cognitive factors. This study aimed to evaluate the personality traits of such patients by applying the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Questionnaire

Material and Methods:

We included 100 patients with biopsy proven IBD in this case control study. 100 individuals (57 subjects of the patients’ family members and 43 subjects of non-family members) were considered as controls. We applied MMPI-2RF to evaluate the personality traits of the participants. ANOVA was used to compare the mean scales between the three groups.

Results:

Of this fifty scale-questionnaire, only the scales of emotional inadequacy (mean=59.83±10.42 p=0.047), demoralization (mean=63.00±11.21 p =0.025), malaise (mean=64.99±14.58 p =0.001), cognitive complaints (mean=64.66±15.25 p =0.008), self-doubt (mean=57.55±11.04 p =0.34), and neuroticism (mean=61.43±11.94  p =0.048) had a significant difference between the three groups.

Conclusion:

The patients with IBD had a higher scales of emotional inadequacy, demoralization, malaise, cognitive complaints, self-doubt, and neuroticism than the controls of non-family and family members. However the differences were significant only between patients with IBD and their non-family controls. We suggest regular psychological and psychiatric counseling for patients with IBD.