AB069. Type of personality and cancer-related pain in central nervous system (CNS) tumor patients: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

Pain is the most common complaint experienced by central nervous system (CNS) tumor patients. Pain, especially cancer pain, involves the whole aspect of a person, such as personality, cognition, and behavior. Personality characteristics play an important role in how a person perceives pain rate and deals with painful situation. This study aimed to describe types of personality and investigate relationship between types of personality and cancer-related pain in CNS patients.

METHODS

This study was conducted at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital from January to December 2023, that was determined by random sampling. The analysis included a total of 99 subjects from inpatient settings. In depth interview was used to assess type of personality and Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) was used to assess intensity of pain. Data analyses were carried out using the Chi-squared and Fisher's exact test to assess the relationship between types of personality and cancer-related pain in CNS patients.

RESULTS

There were 99 subjects with mean age of 48.37±12.96 years, mostly women (60.6%). The results showed that in patients with CNS tumor, the most common neurological deficit was cancer pain (93.9%), consisting of no-mild pain (30.3%) and moderate-severe pain (69.7%). The prevalence of narcissistic personality was 73.7%, followed by histrionic personality 15.2%, and other personality (11.1%) such as borderline, obsessive-compulsive, and avoidant personality. Narcissistic personality traits were found in 48.5% of patients with moderate-severe pain. However, bivariate analysis showed that there was no significant relationship between types of personality and intensity of pain in CNS tumor patients (P=0.60).

CONCLUSIONS

Although there was no significant relationship, cluster B personality (narcissistic, histrionic, and borderline) was found in a large percentage of CNS tumor patients. Research findings showed that intensity of pain was caused by biological components of pain and may be influenced by the patient's perception of pain itself, not solely due to personality. Therefore, it's important for health workers to pay attention and give optimal management to every patient's pain complaint, and not to ignore or minimize it. Psychiatrists can be involved by giving psychotherapy so that patients can deal with their pain in a more adaptive way.