Psychosomatic Aspects of Malignant Tumours of Uterine Corpus

Overview

Objective:
Evaluation of selected scales of the Minnesota Multiphasis Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) within the frame of psychosomatic aspects of gynecological oncology.

Design:
Assessment of actual emotional state and its comparison with the general personality traits of patients before a surgery for gynecologic malignancy.

Setting:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Medical Faculty PU, Olomouc.

Methods:
The study group included 40 patients before the operation and histological confirmation of the diagnosis of oncological disease in whom the indicators of emotional status and personality structure was assessed. The standardized MMPI-2 was used for differenciation of clinical depression, anxiety and psychastenic traits. The ability of patients to participate in the study and adequately express themselves about their emotional status was examined to estimate the validity of administered data.

Results:
Significantly higher scores in the selected scales of the standardized MMMPI-2 were found in our study group compared to general population. The most marked differences were observed in anxiety and clinical manifestation of depresive symptoms.

Conclusion:
Based on the configuration of the personality scales it is therefore possible to accept the research hypothesis that patients in this group are predisponised to anxiousness as a personality trait even before the final confirmation of their suspected oncological diagnosis.

Key words:
malignant tumours of uterine corpus, psychosocial factors, MMPI-2