Ego strength and health: An empiric study in hemodialysis patients

Introduction: Ego strength represents an im- portant variable that could be predictable about health and compliance in chronic diseases. In this study we propose a new questionnaire, E.F.E. “Ego Functioning Experience”, able to reveal the psychological functioning profile in Hemodialysis patients. The aim of this work, is to underline the existing relations between emo- tional profile and compliance, whit E.F.E., that may be predictive of a state of psychologycal health in hemodialysis patients. Methods: Study population included 90 hemodialysis patients. The study protocol was made by three psycho-logical tests: the E.F.E. Questionnaire, the DMI, the Self-Liking and Self-Competence Scale. Re-sults: Factor analysis extracts three factors: 1) “Need of Ego support”; 2) “Ego activity oriented to treatment”; 3) “Ego strength”. The correlation coefficients between the E.F.E. Questionnaire factors (three factors) and other measures, show- ed a direct correlation with the first factor and “turning against object” TAO of the DMI test (correlation is significant at the 0.001 level) and an inverse relation with set mechanisms of “Principalization”, PRN of the DMI (correlation is significant at the 0.005 level). The correlations of the second and the third factors with other measures, were not statistically significant. No relations were found about other variables. Conclusions: The E.F.E. questionnaire is a sim- ple evaluation to detect hemo-dialysis patients who may need greater attention to the psycho- logical health and therefore the need for treat- ment such as psychological support. In fact, lower presence of ego strength is indicative of poor compliance to clinical treatment in hemo- dialysis, but also of worsening of psychiatric symptoms such as demoralization and depres- sed mood. In conclusion, an increased social support is needed in hemodialysis patient in order to achieve better compliance and achieve a better state of psychological health in chronic hemodialysis patients.