Self-Perceived Stress Is Associated With Chest Pain and Personality in Patients With Refractory Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders

This study aims to determine if the severity of self-perceived stress is associated with specific FGID and personality characteristics in 822 patients with FGID who have filled a Rome III questionnaire, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2 (MMPI-2), and a 10-point Likert scale for self-perceived stress. According to stress severity, the patients were divided into three groups: low (6; n = 356). Female sex was more frequent in the severe stress group than in the low stress group (p = 0.001). Stress severity was strongly correlated with the two MMPI-2 posttraumatic stress scales. Clinically, chest pain was more frequently reported by severe stress patients than moderate stress patients. MMPI-2 clinical scales vary significantly according to the severity of stress, and “mild stress” patients have increased hysteria and depression scales and showed a higher frequency of irritable bowel syndrome–diarrhea. This study shows that severe stress severity is associated with a higher frequency of noncardiac chest pain and correlated with most personality items.
Source: The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research