Assessment of selected psychological factors in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Introduction: In the majority of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) mental health problems are demonstrated in the form of excessive anxiety and unstable emotional reactions. Emotional instability affects the wellbeing of these patients, and also their attitude towards the disease and the course of treatment.

Aim: The objective of the study is to evaluate psychological factors in patients with IBD, and to compare patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and patients suffering from Crohn’s disease (CD) with respect to intensity of these factors.

Material and methods: The study included 108 patients with IBD. NEO-FFI and type-D Scale were used to evaluate personality traits. Anxiety level was measured with STAI. CECS was used to measure the patients’ tendency to suppress negative emotions.

Results: In the patients with CD 45% of subjects presented type D personality. In the group of patients with UC, type D personality was found in 38%. The higher levels of neuroticism and extraversion were observed in patients with UC, whereas the patients with CD exhibited a higher level of openness to experience and agreeableness. In patients with CD the levels of state anxiety were elevated, whereas in patients with UC higher scores were both for state and trait anxiety.

Conclusions: There were no statistically significant differences in terms of personality factors in a group of patients with CD and UC. It was found that the majority of patients with IBD suffer elevated or high sense of anxiety.