RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: Introduction: Personality traits of patients suffering from congenital heart defects The work presents a research project carried out in John Paul II Hospital, The Clinical Department of Cardiac and Vascular Diseases with the Intensive Cardiac Surgeon Division Institute of Cardiology, Collegium Medicum of the Jagiellonian University in Cracow, with participation of patients with congenital heart defects. We aimed to assess personality traits of clients suffering from congenital heart defects, in a group of women and men, younger, under 40 years old and older than 40 years old, with PFO and ASD before and after surgery. The aim: identify specific personality traits of patients with congenital heart defects and to check the psychological functioning of patients by examining: the level of anxiety, impulsiveness, tendency to risk-taking, empathy, neuroticism, extraversion, psychoticism and lying. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Material and methods: We performed a psychological clinical assessment and conducted the psychological tests like EPQ-R(S) by Hans J. Eysenck and Sybil G. Eysenck, IVE by Hans J. Eysenck and Sybil G. Eystenck, STAI by C. D. Spielberger, R. L. Gorsuch, R. E. Lushene describing personality traits of patients. RESULTS: Results: Patients (F=29, M=21), adult, with ASD and with PFO, with the level of education: basic, vocational, secondary, incomplete higher, higher; inhabiting: village, city up to 40 thousand residents, a city with a population of 41-61 thousand, and a city with a population of 60 thousand; civil status: single, married, divorced, widow/widower, separated; being: students, unemployed persons, working persons, pensioners, retirees. CONCLUSION: Conclusions: The presented results and their statistical analyses showed specific personality traits of patients with congenital heart defects.