ILLNESS BEHAVIOR, PERSONALITY-TRAITS, ANXIETY, AND DEPRESSION IN PATIENTS WITH MENIERES-DISEASE

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate illness behaviour, per sonality traits, anxiety and depression in patients with Meniere's dis ease. Design: A prospective study of patients and review of the litera ture is presented. Methods: Fifty patients presenting to the ENT depar tment of the Padua University were studied using the Illness Behaviour Questionnaire (IBQ), Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), State Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale. Results : Mean scores were found to be higher than normal for neuroticism with a stronger psychological perception of disease and a lower level of a ffective inhibition. Cluster analysis of the IBQ scores identified a s ubgroup of Meniere's patients with normal scores and another with seve re psychological distress associated with high levels of neuroticism a nd psychoticism in the EPI and an abnormal illness behaviour: these we re older patients with a longer history of Meniere's disease and more hospital stays. Conclusion: Our results indicate the possibility of di stinguishing those patients whose personality traits could facilitate the development of abnormal illness behaviour and psychological sympto ms in relation to Meniere's disease. Analysis of the data suggests tha t there is no specific link between such psychological aspects and the clinical disease.