Is the personality characteristic "impulsive sensation seeking" correlated to differences in current smoking between ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease patients?
BACKGROUND
Crohn's disease (CD) is associated with smoking, while ulcerative colitis (UC) is largely a disease of nonsmokers. We aimed to test whether the smoking-linked personality characteristic "impulsive sensation seeking" (ImpSS) is correlated to the differences in smoking in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).


METHODS
In 185 IBD patients, the General Health Questionnaire and the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ) were administered. The Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence was used to assess smokers' nicotine dependence.


RESULTS
CD patients were twice as likely to be active smokers than UC patients. CD patients presented higher ImpSS scores than UC patients, but the differences became nonsignificant after adjustment for age, gender, education and psychological distress. Multivariate analyses, however, showed that the relationship of ImpSS with current smoking was stronger in CD patients. Moderator analysis showed that the relationship of ImpSS with nicotine dependence was also greater in smokers with CD than in those with UC. No other ZKPQ subscale was correlated to disease type, current smoking or nicotine dependence.


CONCLUSIONS
ImpSS is associated with current smoking and nicotine dependence in IBD, and these associations are stronger in CD. These findings might be relevant to more effective interventions aiming at smoking cessation in CD patients.
Hyphantis
Thomas
T
Department of Psychiatry, Medical School, University of Ioannina, Ioannina 45110, Greece. tyfantis@cc.uoi.gr
Antoniou
Katerina
K
Tomenson
Barbara
B
Tsianos
Epameinondas
E
Mavreas
Venetsanos
V
Creed
Francis
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative; D003424:Crohn Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder; D055815:Young Adult