Correlation of character and temperament traits with the symptoms and life quality in the operated breast cancer patients treated with chemotheraphy

Introduction: In recent years, there has been much improvement in the field of breast cancer in terms of the clinical course, defining the biological structure and its treatment; however, it still proceeds to be a crucial problem., The feeling of nausea, vomiting and pain, that are caused by the treatment and the metastasis implemented during the course of the illness, affect the life quality significantly. As for the depression and the anxiety disorders, the feeling of nausea, vomiting and chronic pain that does not respond to treatment at all are the most frequently seen somatic signs. The level of the pain, nausea and vomiting or how they are sensed by patients varies according to the personality, the characteristic features and the psychological state of a person. In chronic and serious illnesses, there may be some changes in terms of personality, character and natural temperament. In this study, temperamental and characteristic traits of the patients with breast cancer have been examined. The correlation between the feelings of nausea, vomiting, pain complaints of the patients with the breast cancer and temperament- character traits, sleeping habits and the level of depression and anxiety is analyzed throughout the present study. Method: The study is conducted on the 40 patients followed up with the diagnosis of breast cancer in the Medical Oncology Policlinics during the years of 2011 and 2013. At the time of diagnosis, the clinical and socioeconomic information of the patients have been registered. In the study, the self-report tests like Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), Pittsburg Sleeping Quality Scale (PUKI), Hospital Depression Anxiety Scale (HAD), Life Quality Scale (EORTC QLQ-C30) have been utilized. After the process of chemotherapy, per day during 21 days, the evaluation of pain has been carried out by using visual pain scale (VAS) and the information as regard with nausea and vomiting has been evaluated by self reports of the patients. Findings: Out of 40 patients with the average age of 49,32±9,8, during the period after the process of chemotherapy, for 10 (27,5%) of them the feeling of nausea, for 2 (5%) patients the feeling vomiting and for 25 (62,5%) have been found out. In the scale of HAD implemented for the patients, the average anxiety score has been measured as 8,1±3,3. The results of depression score and PUKI are respectively as follows 7,38±4,8 and 6,8±2,4. Whereas the average score of anxiety was statistically high, for the patients with pain the total PUKI score and the sores of the components 4 and 5 out of the sub-components were also significantly high in statistics (respectively; p=0,005, p=0,013, p=0,00) and the sleeping quality was bad. As for the patients with the feeling of nausea, the score of the social activity in terms of the life quality, symptoms of nausea ?vomiting and the score of diarrhea were significantly low (respectively; p= 0,01, P=0,02, p=0,03). While no meaningful difference between the patients with and without pain was found in terms of TCI temperamental features, the sub-scale of harm avoidance (HA1: anxiety of expectation) for the patients with the feeling of nausea was ascertained as statistically low (p=0.03). There was no any meaningful difference as regard with the pain symptoms and TCI characteristic features. For the patients with nausea the self-direction (SD), or the sub-scales SD1 and SD2, the average scores of collaboration sub-scale C1 were measured statistically high (p=0.035, p=0.048, p=0.014, p=0.032). A meaningful relation was observed between the feeling of anxiety and nausea (r=0,382, P<0.05). A positive correlation was found out between the PUKI total sleeping score and the pain (r=0,446, P<0.01), and the level of pain (r=0,437, P<0.01), between the component 3 and the level of pain (r=0,355, P<0.05), between the component 4 and vomiting (r=0,385, P<0.05), between the pain (r=0,398, P<0.05) and the level of pain (r=0,420, P<0.01), between the component 5 and the pain (r=0,438, P<0.01), and the level of pain (r=0,485, P<0.01). A meaningful opposite correlation was reached between the score of the life quality emotional activity and the feeling of nausea (r=-0,312, P<0.05) and between the score of the social activity and the feeling of nausea (r=-0,388, P<0.05). Result: In the patients, a low level of side effect has been observed and in general terms a bad quality of sleeping has drawn attention. The character and temperament traits have not been found as a general determinant quality on the symptoms.