[How do the obese persons perceive their overall health?].

BACKGROUND: the purpose was to investigate how the obese person perceives their health in different areas of their life. METHODS: the SF-36 instrument, which measures various dimensions (social and physical functioning, mental and physical health, bodily pain, limitations due to physical and/or emotional problems, vitality and general health), was applied to 224 patients. It was analyzed whether there were differences between gender, which were channeled to the treatment (surgical and nonsurgical) and the degree of obesity (overweight, obesity and morbid obesity). A descriptive analysis, Student t test, Anova and Tukey t test were used. RESULTS: significant differences (p < 0.05) were found in some dimensions, like tendency to feel tired, exhausted and feeling that their health has been and will continue to deterioration. Women had a worse social and emotional functioning than men; patients with gastric bypass reported more fatigue than patients with gastric band; in regards to the degree of obesity, those who had morbid obesity showed less physical functioning, more pain and worse overall health than those who were just obese. CONCLUSIONS: the perception of the obese patients was that their health had deteriorated. Women were more affected in social and emotional functioning than men.

Objetivo: conocer cómo la persona con obesidad percibe su salud en diferentes áreas de su vida. Métodos: a 224 pacientes con obesidad, se les aplicó el cuestionario SF-36, el cual mide funcionamiento social y físico, salud mental y física, dolor corporal, limitaciones de roles debido a problemas físicos o emocionales, vitalidad y salud general. Se analizaron las diferencias entre los sexos, el tratamiento y el grado de obesidad. Se realizó análisis descriptivo y se aplicó t de Student, Anova y prueba de Tukey Resultados: Las mujeres tuvieron peor funcionamiento social y emocional que los hombres; en cuanto al tipo de tratamiento, los pacientes con derivación gástrica indicaron mayor cansancio que aquellos con banda gástrica y los que tuvieron obesidad mórbida mostraron menor funcionamiento físico, mayor dolor y peor salud general que quienes tenían obesidad. Conclusiones: la mayoría de los pacientes analizados tendió a sentirse cansada, exhausta y con la sensación de que su salud ha sido y seguirá deteriorándose.

[Self-perception in obese patients]. / La autopercepción en el paciente obeso.

BACKGROUND: The perception of obese people has about themselves is often paradoxical, seeing themselves with several virtues and flaws that take them to have an ambiguous attitude about themselves. The aim was to evaluate the perception that the obese people has about their body and relationships. METHOD: Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire was applied; obtaining a descriptive analysis (mean and standard deviation) of each item and contrasting by gender (male and female) and proposal treatment (surgical and nonsurgical). RESULTS: Significant differences were found (p value<.05) between genders and type of treatment in some phrases of the applied questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: Self-perception in the obese patient seems to be strongly related to the perception that society has of them, which is usually negative in relation to their appearance. Patients tend to perceive themselves as unappealing, although this perception is greater in patients canalized to surgical treatment; likewise, tendency to think about their appearance is greater in non-surgical patients. About personal care, it was found that participants pay less attention to improving their personal appearance, women having a slightly greater concern.

[Personality patterns of kidney donors]. / Personalidad en donadores renales.

BACKGROUND: The renal transplantation occurrence has increased over the last 20 years, increasing as well, the importance of knowing personality traits of both donor and recipient deeply. The aim was to understand and describe the psychological profile (personality and psychopathology) that characterizes kidney donors. METHODS: The Minnesota Multiphase Personality Inventory MMPI (version 1) was applied to 110 subjects who decided to be kidney donors (before undergoing intervention) the results were analyzed by Student t test for comparison of independent groups and to know whether there are gender differences in personality. RESULTS: Significant differences in the scales of introversion and psychasthenia (anxiety) were found, men being the most anxious and women having higher levels of social isolation. CONCLUSIONS: In general, donors tend to seek social recognition, reflecting fear to donation and concern about the effects it may have on their health as well as mild depressive symptoms. That is why we remark the importance of psychological support to kidney donors.

[Psychopathology and personality of patients with heart disease]. / Psicopatología y personalidad de pacientes cardiópatas.

PURPOSE: To know the psychological aspects involved in cardiac ailments and whether there was a distinctive personality profile of each disorder. METHODS: We evaluated 137 patients with congenital heart, acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or awaiting a heart transplant who came to the National Institute of Cardiology Ignacio Chavez. We used multiphase Personality Inventory, which provides information on personality traits and psychopathology. RESULTS: There were significant differences between some cardiac sufferings and the scales that the inventory measures, as well as the existence of differences between sexes. CONCLUSIONS: The diseases associated with the heart involve not only some physical and psychological consequences, but also significant psychological consequences depending on the type of heart disease. Those with a congenital heart had better conditions than other emotional heart diseases studied. For their part, those who have suffered IAM are showing higher depressive Levels (being higher in males), while those more concerned about their health in this study were patients awaiting heart transplantation. That is why it is important to take into account the psychological aspects in the cardiac conditions to achieve a better multidisciplinary management.

[Psychopathology and personality in patients with vasovagal syncope]. / Estudio descriptivo de la personalidad y psicopatología en pacientes con síncope vasovagal.

UNLABELLED: Syncope is characterized by a sudden and brief Loss of the normal state of consciousness (fainting), caused by multiple factors (biological, psychological and social), which consequences can be Lethal if it is not timely diagnosed and treated. These episodes affect the total sphere of the subject (on an individual, work, school, social, and family level). PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Contribute to the study of vasovagal syncope (WS) patients, describing their personality and psychopathological characteristics. METHOD: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was used to evaluate psychopathology in a sample of 30 subjects diagnosed with (WS), attended in the National Institute of Cardiology "lgnacio Chávez", making a descriptive analysis of the complete sample, regarding demographic variables and inventory scores. RESULTS: The scales with higher scores found within these subjects were hypochondriasis (= 67.43), depression (= 69.83), hysteria (= 67.83) among others. CONCLUSIONS: In general, patients with (WS) show significant levels of anxiety and depression, dissatisfaction, bad mood, pessimism, concern, somatic complaints, difficulty to solve problems adaptively, among others. This study remarks the importance of knowing these characteristics to implement treatments that manage this disease properly and may improve patients quality of life, as well as their physical and mental health.

Psicopatología y personalidad de pacientes cardiópatas / Psychopathology and personality of patients with heart disease

PURPOSE: To know the psychological aspects involved in cardiac ailments and whether there was a distinctive personality profile of each disorder. METHODS: We evaluated 137 patients with congenital heart, acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or awaiting a heart transplant who came to the National Institute of Cardiology Ignacio Chavez. We used multiphase Personality Inventory, which provides information on personality traits and psychopathology. RESULTS: There were significant differences between some cardiac sufferings and the scales that the inventory measures, as well as the existence of differences between sexes. CONCLUSIONS: The diseases associated with the heart involve not only some physical and psychological consequences, but also significant psychological consequences depending on the type of heart disease. Those with a congenital heart had better conditions than other emotional heart diseases studied. For their part, those who have suffered IAM are showing higher depressive Levels (being higher in males), while those more concerned about their health in this study were patients awaiting heart transplantation. That is why it is important to take into account the psychological aspects in the cardiac conditions to achieve a better multidisciplinary management.

Estudio descriptivo de la personalidad y psicopatología en pacientes con síncope vasovagal / Psychopathology and personality in patients with vasovagal syncope

Syncope is characterized by a sudden and brief Loss of the normal state of consciousness (fainting), caused by multiple factors (biological, psychological and social), which consequences can be Lethal if it is not timely diagnosed and treated. These episodes affect the total sphere of the subject (on an individual, work, school, social, and family level). PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Contribute to the study of vasovagal syncope (WS) patients, describing their personality and psychopathological characteristics. METHOD: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was used to evaluate psychopathology in a sample of 30 subjects diagnosed with (WS), attended in the National Institute of Cardiology "lgnacio Chávez", making a descriptive analysis of the complete sample, regarding demographic variables and inventory scores. RESULTS: The scales with higher scores found within these subjects were hypochondriasis (= 67.43), depression (= 69.83), hysteria (= 67.83) among others. CONCLUSIONS: In general, patients with (WS) show significant levels of anxiety and depression, dissatisfaction, bad mood, pessimism, concern, somatic complaints, difficulty to solve problems adaptively, among others. This study remarks the importance of knowing these characteristics to implement treatments that manage this disease properly and may improve patients quality of life, as well as their physical and mental health.