Evaluation of Personality Traits in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease and demyelinating the central nervous system that causes variability of symptoms depending on the affected region, because even emotional, cognitive changes and psychiatric disorders.

Objectives: To assess personality traits of patients with MS, using the Test Color Pyramid Pfister (TPC).

Methods: Method: The TPC consists of the construction of 3 pyramids with colored cards on a mold. The sample was intentional and the test was administered to 50 patients in a charitable institution. We evaluated the inability of patients by Scale Expanded Disability Status for (EDSS) and the type of MS .

Results: Sample with 38 (76%) women and 12 (24%) men , 31 (62%) people over 40 years and 34 (68%) people with EDSS between 2.5 and 7.5 , with 37 (74%) persons with type of MS , relapsing remitting, all p ≤ .001 . As the result of the TPC obtained are 38 (76%) people with orderly implementation and 9 (18%) with methodical , indicating rigidity in behavior , 29 (58%) subjects performed the action in order ascending indicating more stable attitude , the predominant role was instability in the reception of stimuli , 15 (30%) people in moderate unstable , 5 (10%)  broad unstable and 2 (4%) limited unstable, demonstrating that no matter the magnitude of the stimulus received , the trend is the reception instability , as the formal aspect of the construction, the prevalence is the carpet in at least 1 of the pyramids - 33 (66%) subjects , 18 (36%) people have carpet in the 3 pyramids, indicating the presence of cognitive and emotional changes , for colors : blue, red , green , violet, orange , black, white and gray , p ≤ .001 and the yellow and brown colors p ≥ .001 , indicating emotional change with trend for impulsivity . There is a weak statistical correlation to assert that the relapsing remitting MS is prevalent in women , p = .044 , there was no correlation between any other data .

Conclusions: Personality traits present in this sample using the TPC were : stiffness , emotional unstable for receiving stimuli , low tolerance for frustration and certain cognitive and emotional difficulties to face relegation , with a tendency to develop obsessive compulsive disorder .