Comparison of personality and psychopathology in patients with Fabry disease and patients with end-stage renal disease: a preliminary study

TL;DR

This study compares personality and mental health in Fabry disease and end-stage renal disease patients, finding higher psychological distress in Fabry disease patients.

Contribution

The study provides preliminary evidence of unique psychopathological profiles in Fabry disease patients compared to those with ESRD.

Findings

FD patients showed higher Schizoid, Depressive, and Negativistic personality traits than ESRD patients.

FD patients had elevated levels of Anxiety, Depression, and Psychoticism symptoms compared to ESRD patients.

Psychological therapies may help reduce emotional burden and psychopathology in FD patients.

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate personality characteristics and psychopathological symptoms in patients with Fabry disease (FD) vs a group of individuals with end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

A total of 36 patients, equally divided into patients with FD and patients with ESRD (control group), were administered the following tools: the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory III (MCMI-III) to evaluate personality psychopathology and the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) to assess symptoms of psychopathology.

Significantly higher levels of Schizoid, Depressive, and Negativistic personality traits emerged in FD patients. Moreover, statistically significant differences in Anxiety, Interpersonal Sensitivity, Obsessive-Compulsive, Depression, Somatization, and Psychoticism dimensions of the SCL-90-R were found, with higher levels of each dimension in patients with FD than ESRD.

The literature, albeit limited, highlights how patients with FD are at higher risk of developing psychological distress and psychopathology than patients presenting other chronic diseases such as ESRD. Using psychological therapies together with standard treatments for FD can promote condition acceptance, reduce emotional burden, and relieve psychopathological symptoms in FD patients.

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