The INSPIRE study: Do personality traits predict general quality of life (Short form-36) in distressed patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease?

Objective. To assess the role of personality as a predictor of Short form-36 (SF-36) in distressed patients (perceived stress questionnaire, PSQ) with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). Material and methods. Fifty-four patients with CD and 55 with UC (age 18-60 years) who had relapsed in the previous 18 months, i.e. with an activity index (AI) for UC or CD4, PSQ60, and without severe mental or other major medical conditions, completed the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPA), the Neuroticism and Lie scales of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-N and -L), the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale (LOC) (Internal (I), Powerful Other (PO), Chance (C)), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) and the SF-36. Results. Multiple linear regression analyses controlling for gender, age and clinical disease activity (AI) in separate analyses for UC and CD showed that the mental and vitality subscales were predicted by neuroticism in both UC and CD. The highest explained variance was 43.8% on the mental subscale in UC. The social function subscale was related to alexithymia only in UC, while the role limitation and pain subscales were related to personality in CD only. The physical function subscale related differently to personality in UC and CD. Conclusions. While mental and vitality subscales were predicted by neuroticism in both UC and CD, other subscales had different relationships to personality, suggesting different psychobiological interactions in UC and CD.