Individual psychological and gender peculiarities of patients with liver cirrhosis

Abstract

Introduction. Liver cirrhosis (LC) is a chronic disease characterized by destruction of liver cells, changes in its lobular structure and vascular system, enlargement of connective tissue and irreversible dysfunction of the organ, with severe mental and psychological complications. Not only the treatment and prevention of complications, but also the psychological support of the patients with liver cirrhosis and their families are important. The objectives of the study. To explore empirically the individual psychological features of patients with LC, as well as to identify the gender peculiarities of the personality of the patient with LC. Material and methods. The study was conducted in the gastroenterology department of Chernivtsi Regional Clinical Hospital, Ukraine, from September 2017 to April 2018. The research involved 24 patients (9 women and 15 men). The average age of patients was 64 years. Methods as observation, conversation, R. Cattell’s Multi-Factor Questionnaire were used to diagnose individual psychological peculiarities. Results. As indicated by the results of the study of the communicative qualities of patients with LC, high levels were detected in such factors as Dominance (54%) and Vigilance (83%). As for the group of intellectual qualities, the average level prevails. Concerning the group of emotional qualities, the average level of internal stress, emotional sensitivity, anxiety, self-control, courage and organization in social contacts prevails among the patients with LC disease. According to the results of the study of the regulatory qualities of patients with LC, the vast majority of respondents demonstrated a high level of self-discipline (79%). Conclusions. A comparative analysis of gender peculiarities has shown that women with LC tend to demonstrate sociability, internal stress; they are more self-disciplined than men, whereas men with LC are more open to the perception of new things. It is worth paying attention to the fact that both men and women of this sample were found to have a low level of emotional sensitivity.

Keywords

• individual psychological peculiarities
• liver cirrhosis
• psychological support
• gender peculiarities