Bronchial asthma control degree and the temperament structure according to the Eysenck model

INTRODUCTION: Asthma is a disease of a psychosomatic nature. The control of asthma is still poor in approximately 5% of patients, despite introduction of modern inhalant drugs and psychotherapeutic interventions. AIM: To evaluate whether the degree of bronchial asthma control is related to the characteristics of temperament according to Eysenck’s concept. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted on a group of 111 bronchial asthma patients and 44 healthy subjects. In all of them, the Eysenck temperament questionnaire was administered and the level of asthma control was determined. RESULTS: Increase in the scale of neuroticism was associated with an 1.83-fold increase in the likelihood of poor asthma control. Increase in the result on the psychoticism scale and lie scale of about one point was associated with a slightly smaller increased risk of poor asthma control (respectively: 1.49-fold and 1.61-fold). CONCLUSIONS: The structure of temperament of a person with poor control of bronchial asthma can be characterized. Patients with poor asthma control have a higher level of neuroticism, psychoticism and propensity to lie, compared with the healthy population and subjects with good or partial bronchial asthma control.