title: [Transverse study of personality characteristics in patients with arterial hypertension].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To verify whether hypertensive patients, with recent or old poor-controlled hypertension, asymptomatic for anxiety and/or depression, seem more disturbed in personality than normotensive patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  122 patients with arterial hypertension (62 women, 60 men, mean age 47 +/- 12.7 years, divided in new-hypertensive patients who don't take any drugs and old-hypertensive patients with a chronic therapy) and 65 normotensive subjects (37 women, 28 men, middle age 41 +/- 11.7 years) answered two self-extiming questionnaires: A.S.Q. by Krug and Cattel and C.D.Q. by Krug and Laughlin. For every group of variables it has been calculated the mean and standard deviation and statistical analysis was performed by Mann-Whitney's t test. A value of p < 0.05 was considered statistically significatant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  37 hypertensive patients (30.3%) were positive in the C.D.Q. and 34 (27.8%) in the A.S.Q. test. In the group of normotensive subjects, 13 (20%) were positive in C.D.Q. and 12 (8.4%) in A.S.Q. There was a statistic difference in C.D.Q and A.S.Q. between hypertensive and normotensive subjects. No statistic difference was found in C.D.Q. and A.S.Q. between new and old-hypertensives.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study has shown a significant higher level of anxiety and depression in hypertensive subjects as compared to normotensives. However, no significant difference in anxiety and depression levels was found between new- and old-hypertensive patients or in relation with the use of antihypertensive drugs.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche, Università La Sapienza, Roma, Italia. mirellacilli@uniroma1.it
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cilli
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Petramala
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cotesta
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caliumi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iorio
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Serra
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cerruti
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Letizia
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cipriani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D011581:Psychological Tests