Predicting depression with temperament and character in lung cancer patients

Using temperament and character dimensions (TCI) to analyze the personality profiles of adults and older adults with cancer managed in outpatient settings

Introduction

This study aimed to investigate profiles of personality evaluated by temperament and character dimensions (TCI) in 638 adult and older adult patients (CP) who had recently been diagnosed with breast, colon, lung, and other kinds of cancer (female and male subjects were assessed). Tests: Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). Statistical analysis: cluster K-means analysis for personality traits.

Results

Two different personality profiles emerged: "Low self-determination and pessimism" (Profile 1) and "Self-determination and self-caring (medium)" (Profile 2). The following significant differences were observed in the TCI dimensions between the two profiles: Temperament-Novelty-Seeking (NS) (p < 0.001); Harm-Avoidance (HA) (p < 0.001); Reward-Dependence (RD) (p < 0.001); Persistence (PS) (p < 0.001); Character-Self-Directness (SD) (p < 0.001); Cooperativeness (C) (p > 0.001); Self-Transcendence (ST) (p < 0.001). No differences in the two profiles were found between adult and elderly patients. Profile 1 - "Low self-determination and pessimism": Patients with this profile present low resistance to frustration, poor search for novelty and solutions (NS), anxiety and pessimism (medium HA), high social attachment and dependence on the approval of others (medium-high RD), and low self-determination (PS) as temperament dimensions; and medium-low self-direction, low autonomy and ability to adapt (SD-medium-low), medium cooperativeness (C), and low self-transcendence (ST) as character dimensions. Profile 2 - "Self-determination and self-caring (medium)": Patients with this profile have resistance to frustration, ability to search for novelty and solutions (medium-NS), low anxiety and pessimism (HA), low social attachment and dependence on approval (medium-low-RD), and determination (medium-high PS) as dimensions of temperament; and autonomy and capacity for adaptation and self-direction (SD), capacity for cooperation (high-CO), and self-transcendence (medium-high-ST) as character dimensions.

Conclusion

Personality screening allows a better understanding of the difficulties of the individual patient and the planning of targeted psychotherapeutic interventions that promote quality of life and good adaptation to the disease course.

Quality of life, anxiety, depression, and distress in patients with advanced and metastatic lung cancer

OBJECTIVE

Lung cancer (LC) patients have shown a predisposition for developing emotional and physical symptoms, with detrimental effects on the quality of life (QoL). This study evaluates the bidirectional relationship between main psychological disorders and clinical/sociodemographic factors with the QoL.

METHODS

In this observational cross-sectional study, patients with a confirmed LC diagnosis from February 2015 to March 2018 were eligible for this study. Each participant completed screening instruments of anxiety, depression, distress, and QoL assessment. Other relevant clinical data were extracted from electronic health records. Then comparisons, correlations, and logistic regression analyses were performed.

RESULTS

Two hundred and four cases were eligible; of them, the median age was 61 (24-84) years, most had clinical stage IV (95%), and most were under first-line therapy (53%). Concerning psychological status, 46% had symptoms of emotional distress, 35% anxiety, and 31% depression. Patients with psychological disorders experienced a worse global QoL than those without psychological impairment (p < 0.001). Increased financial issues and physical symptoms, combined with lower functioning, were also significantly associated with anxiety, depression, and distress. In the multivariate analysis, female sex and emotional distress were positively associated with an increased risk of depression; likewise, female sex, low social functioning, insomnia, and emotional distress were associated with anxiety.

CONCLUSIONS

Emotional symptoms and QoL had a significant bidirectional effect on this study; this underscores the necessity to identify and treat anxiety, depression, and distress to improve psychological well-being and the QoL in LC patients.

Dignity therapy in Mexican lung cancer patients with emotional distress: Impact on psychological symptoms and quality of life

Lung cancer (LC) is the most frequent and deadly neoplasm in the world, and patients have shown a tendency to have more emotional distress than other cancer populations. Dignity Therapy (DT) is a brief intervention aimed to improve emotional well-being in patients facing life-threatening illness.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the effect of DT on anxiety, depression, hopelessness, emotional distress, dignity-related distress, and quality of life (QoL) in a group of Mexican patients with stage IV LC undergoing active medical treatment with baseline emotional distress.

METHOD

In this preliminary pretest-posttest study, patients received three sessions of DT and were evaluated with the HADS, Distress Thermometer, Patient Dignity Inventory, single-item questions, and QLQ-30.

RESULTS

In total, 24 out of 29 patients completed the intervention. Statistically significant improvements were found in anxiety, depression, emotional distress, hopelessness, and dignity-related distress with large effect sizes. Patients reported that DT helped them, increased their meaning and purpose in life, their sense of dignity, and their will to live, while it decreased their suffering. No changes were found in QoL.

SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS

DT was well accepted and effective in improving the emotional symptoms of LC patients with distress that were undergoing medical treatment. Although more research is warranted to confirm these results, this suggests that DT can be used in the context of Latin-American patients.

Personality (at Intrapsychic and Interpersonal Level) Associated With Quality of Life in Patients With Cancer (Lung and Colon)

The objective of this study was to determine the association of quality of life (QoL) and intrapsychic and interpersonal behaviors (Structural Analysis of Social Behavior [SASB]) of patients with cancer (lung: n = 88; age 62.8 ± 10.1; colon: n = 56; age 60.1 ± 11.4). Personality described by SASB clusters (Cls): SASB-Questionnaire; QoL tests: FACT_G and QLQ-C30. Patients with lung cancer (n = 88; age 62.8 ± 10.1) and colon cancer (n = 56; age 60.1 ± 11.4; all stages of severity). Multiple regression analyses. Multiple linear regression: dependent variable: FACT_G; covariates: physical functioning, cognitive functioning, SASB-Cl3-50°, SASB-Cl6-50°. Analysis of variance and t test confirm validity of the model (P < .001). SASB-Cl3 with FACT_G (P = .034); SASB-Cl6 with FACT_G (P = .002); age with FACT_G (P = .018); physical functioning with FACT_G (P < .001); cognitive functioning with FACT_G (P < .001). Personality traits such as self-critical and oppressive behaviors, low capacity for self-esteem, physical and cognitive functioning, and age (a higher age determines a better QoL) strongly determine QoL in patients with lung and colon cancer. This may suggest areas of therapeutic intervention.

Correlation of affective temperament and psychiatric symptoms in palliative care cancer patients

Background

Psychiatric symptoms are common in terminally ill patients. Studies linking temperamental traits and psychiatric disorders in patients suffering from advanced disease are rare. This study investigated the influence of temperament on depression and anxiety in palliative care cancer patients.

Methods

A total of 53 patients at the palliative care unit (PCU) of the Medical University of Vienna were enrolled in the study. Patients filled out the TEMPS-M and the brief PHQ-9 questionnaires to examine associations between temperament, psychiatric symptoms and sociodemographic parameters.

Results

Pain (67%), anorexia (58%), constipation (42%) and nausea/vomiting (40%) were the most prevalent self-reported symptoms. Self-reported symptoms of depression were less commonly reported (21.8%) than unveiled by the structured assessment by the PHQ-9 questionnaire: 26.4% (n = 14) showed mild symptoms of depression and 64.1% (n = 34) had a major depressive disorder (MDD) according to PHQ-9. The depressive and cyclothymic temperaments showed significant associations with depressive (both: p < 0.001) as well as symptoms of anxiety (p = 0.002; p = 0.036). Furthermore, the anxious temperament was significantly associated with symptoms of depression (p = 0.027).

Conclusions

Mood disorders are common in palliative care patients, as the majority of the patients were suffering from MDD. The depressive, cyclothymic and anxious temperaments were found to be correlated with depressive and anxious symptoms. A sensitization in this field might bring further improvements for the quality of life of palliative care patients and help to appropriately address psychiatric symptoms in palliative care.

Quality of Life in a Hospice: A Validation of the Croatian Version of the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL

PURPOSE

Quality of life is the cornerstone of palliative care, and assessing it requires validated and standardized questionnaires. However, the majority of questionnaires are not tested in a hospice setting. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the quality of life in a hospice using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 15 for Palliative Care (PAL) (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL) questionnaire and validating it in Croatian language.

METHODS

The study was conducted prospectively on 151 consecutive patients who were evaluated at the admittance to the hospice and after 7 days. Along with the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL, both evaluations included the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) and the Palliative Performance Score (PPS) version 2. Cronbach α coefficient was used to test the reliability of multi-item scales, while construct and concurrent validity was tested using the Pearson correlation coefficients. Known-group validity was evaluated using the Student t test.

RESULTS

Physical functioning, pain, and emotional functioning scales all exhibited high reliability on both assessments and met the criteria of Cronbach α ≥.70, while fatigue scale met the predetermined criteria in the follow-up assessment (α = .90). Adequate validity was also displayed, with the highest correlation coefficients between the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL and ESAS scales recorded for the corresponding items. The EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL was also able to distinguish patients with different PPS scores, exhibiting excellent clinical validity.

CONCLUSIONS

The EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL can be used successfully in Croatian palliative care. However, inevitable issues such as low retest percentage due to short survival and low physical functioning scores need to be acknowledged in further formulations of quality of life questionnaires specific to hospice care.

Risk of mood disorders in patients with colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND

To assess the risk of mood disorders among patients with colorectal cancer (CRC), a population-based cohort study was performed using the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database.

METHODS

The study cohort included 27242 patients diagnosed with CRC between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2010. Four insurants from the general population without CRC were frequency matched to each case by age, sex, and index year/month to create the control group. Cox's proportional hazard regression model with hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was conducted to estimate the impact of CRC on the risk of mood disorders.

RESULTS

Patients with CRC exhibited a significantly higher risk of developing mood disorders (adjusted HR=3.05, 95% CI=2.89-3.20) compared with the control group. This phenomenon was also observed for each type of mood disorder (depression, bipolar disease and anxiety), as well as across different subgroups by patient characteristics. However, a follow-up time longer than 1 year was more likely to have significantly increased risks, and we unexpectedly found that some treatments in CRC patients tended to have a decreased risk of anxiety compared to their counterparts.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this population-based cohort study suggest that patients with CRC are at a higher risk of mood disorders, especially when follow-up time is longer than 1 year, but various treatments may inversely affect this association.

Psychometric properties and factor structure of the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R) in a Croatian psychiatric outpatient sample

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this study was to investigate psychometric properties and factorial structure of the Croatian adaptation of the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R) in a sample of psychiatric outpatients (n=328).

METHOD

The participants filled out the TCI-R, as well as self-report measures of the Big-Five personality traits (IPIP-50), trait impulsivity (BIS-11), depression (BDI-II), suicidality (SBQ-R), and life satisfaction (SWLS). We explored the internal consistency of 7 domains and 29 subscales and compared it with the Croatian version of the original TCI used in prior studies. Principal component analysis with promax rotation was conducted on temperament and character subscales separately, while concurrent validity was examined through the TCI-R's relations with the abovementioned psychological measures.

RESULTS

The TCI-R scales showed adequate internal consistencies, with Cronbach's alpha values ranging from 0.77 to 0.93. The internal consistency showed to be higher in comparison with the Croatian version of the original TCI. The postulated four-factor structure of temperament and the three-factor structure of character were confirmed. The meaningful associations with other measures supported the concurrent validity of the TCI-R.

CONCLUSION

The Croatian adaptation of the TCI-R exhibited satisfactory reliability and validity in a sample of psychiatric outpatients. These findings support the use of the TCI-R in Croatian clinical settings over its predecessor (TCI).

Personality traits and violent behavior: a comparison between psychopathic and non-psychopathic male murderers

The relationship between psychopathy and traits of temperament and character in a specific population of criminals, such as murderers, has not been sufficiently investigated. This study assesses the relationship between psychopathy and temperament and character traits in murderers. The sample consisted of 118 men divided into three groups: psychopathic murderers (N=40), non-psychopathic murderers (N=40) and 38 non-psychopathic non-criminals (controls). All individuals were evaluated by Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R) and The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). Psychopathic murderers presented higher scores than the other two groups in PCL-R; both criminal groups presented higher scores than non-psychopathic non-criminals. Psychopathic murderers showed lower scores than non-psychopathic murderers on Harm Avoidance, Reward Dependence, Persistence, Self-Directness and Cooperativeness. There was no difference between murderers groups regarding Novelty Seeking and Self-transcendence. In all TCI personality traits psychopathic and non-psychopathic murderers showed scores lower than controls, except Harm Avoidance for non-psychopathic murderers. In conclusion, most personality traits assessed by TCI were associated with psychopathy, while Novelty Seeking and Self-transcendence were associated with homicidal behavior independently of the psychopathy.

Pulmonary rehabilitation for respiratory disorders other than chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is an important therapeutic intervention that should no longer be considered suitable only for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A strong rationale exists for providing PR to persons with a broad range of respiratory disorders other than COPD. Evidence shows that PR for these patients is feasible, safe and effective. A disease-relevant approach should be undertaken, based on individual patients' needs. Further research is needed to better understand the optimal program content, duration and outcomes measures, to enable diverse patients to achieve maximal benefits of PR.