Abstract
BackgroundTo determine the temperament and character profile of glaucoma patients.MethodsA total of 234 patients (104 with primary open angle glaucoma, and 130 control subjects without any ocular disease) were selected for this prospective, cross-sectional study. All the participants underwent a comprehensive ophthalmological examination, including the best corrected visual acuity, intraocular pressure measurement, gonioscopy, and visual field analysis. All the participants were given the Turkish version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). The TCI is a self-reported evaluate, with 240 true/false items measuring four domains of temperament; harm avoidance (HA), persistence (PS), novelty seeking (NS), reward dependence (RD), and three domains of character; self-transcendence (ST), cooperativeness (C), self-directedness (SD).ResultsThe glaucoma patients achieved the higher scores than the controls for the HA and SD dimensions (p < 0.001 and p = 0.033). The glaucoma patients scored lower than the controls for the NS, P and ST dimensions (p < 0.001, p < 0.001 and p = 0.002). There were no differences in the RD and C scores between the patients and the controls (p = 0.944 and p = 0.343). There was no correlation between the duration of illness and the TCI dimensions. Disease severity was positively associated with HA (r = 0,220, p = 0,025) and the anticipatory worry (r = 0.227, p = 0.021) dimension.ConclusionsGlaucoma patients had a different personality profile to healthy individuals. This may affect treatment compliance and is also important when coping with maladaptive patient attitudes.
Highlights
To determine the temperament and character profile of glaucoma patients
All the participants underwent a comprehensive ophthalmological examination, including best corrected visual acuity, the intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement with a Goldman applanation tonometer, a gonioscopy, visual fields using with the Humphrey D (Humphrey Systems Field Analyzer Model II 750, Zeiss, USA) the 24–2 Swedish Interactive Thresholding Algorithm I (Standard 24–2 VF tests; SITA-SAP, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc.) standard program, and a detailed fundus examination
This study showed that the glaucoma patients have a characteristic personality profile with their lower scores for the Novelty Seeking (NS), P, ST, and higher scores for the Harm avoidance (HA) and SD dimensions when compared to the controls
Summary
To determine the temperament and character profile of glaucoma patients. The importance of personality structure has proven the perception that there is a maintenance of high levels of stress in glaucoma patients [4, 5]. The differences in personality structure of glaucoma patients; excitable temperament, perfectionistic pattern, neuroticism, hypochondriacal tendencies, irritability, anxiety traits, and type A behavioral. According to Cloninger’s psychobiological model, the dimensional approach has some advantages when studying personality [14]. Personality has been proposed as two separate elements i.e. temperament and character. Temperament is proposed as the underlying biological and genetic structural component of the personality, and refers to the automatic emotional response to incidents; while character involves self-conception, and is affected by life experiences, which provide diversity in the values
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