Comparison of Personality and Psychopathology in Patients with Fabry Disease and Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease: A Preliminary Study

Concetta De Pasquale ¹ Maria Luisa Pistorio ^2,3* Massimiliano Veroux ⁴ Tania Moretta ⁵ Margherita Stefania Rodolico ⁶ Ines Monte ³ Noemi Barbagallo ⁷ Luca Zanoli ⁸ Denise Cristiana Faro ⁷ Alessia Giaquinta ³ Martina Maria Giambra ³ Pierfrancesco Veroux ³

• ¹ Department of Education Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Sicily, Italy
• ² University of Catania, Catania, Italy
• ³ Vascular Surgery and Transplants Unit, Department of General Surgery and Medical Surgical Specialties, San Marco Polyclinic, Catania, Sicily, Italy
• ⁴ Department of Medical, Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies G.F. Ingrassia, University of Catania, Catania, Sicily, Italy
• ⁵ Department of General Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Veneto, Italy
• ⁶ Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation, National Research Council (IRIB-CNR), Section of Catania, Via P. Gaifami 18, 95126 Catania, Italy., Catania, Italy
• ⁷ Department of General Surgery and Medical Surgical Specialties, Policlinico San Marco, Catania, Sicily, Italy
• ⁸ Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy., Catania, Italy

Background: The present study aimed to investigate personality characteristics and psychopathological symptoms in patients with Fabry disease (FD) vs a group of individuals with endstage renal disease (ESRD).Methods: A total of 36 patients, equally divided into patients with FD and patients with ESRD (control group), were administered the following tools: the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory III (MCMI-III) to evaluate personality psychopathology and the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) to assess symptoms of psychopathology.Results: Significantly higher levels of Schizoid, Depressive, and Negativistic personality traits emerged in FD patients. Moreover, statistically significant differences in Anxiety, Interpersonal Sensitivity, Obsessive-Compulsive, Depression, Somatization, and Psychoticism dimensions of the SCL-90-R were found, with higher levels of each dimension in patients with FD than ESRD.The literature, albeit limited, highlights how patients with FD are at higher risk of developing psychological distress and psychopathology than patients presenting other chronic diseases such as ESRD. Using psychological therapies together with standard treatments for FD can promote condition acceptance, reduce emotional burden, and relieve psychopathological symptoms in FD patients.