Personality and anxiety are related to health-related quality of life in unruptured intracranial aneurysm patients selected for non-intervention: A cross sectional study

Background Personality traits and mental health problems have been previously reported in unruptured intracranial aneurysm (UIA) patients; however, few studies have clarified the relations between these variables and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study was designed to characterize the personality traits, HRQoL and mental health of patients with UIA and to evaluate whether personality has an influence on HRQoL and whether this is mediated by the patients' emotional symptoms. Methods Sixty-three patients with UIAs (mean age 62.6 years, 83.9% women) answered questionnaires for depression, anxiety, HRQoL and personality traits between June 2016 and May 2019. Results Eight percent of the sample had depression, and 27.4% had anxiety. Participants showed high levels of responsibility, kindness and neuroticism and low levels of extraversion and openness. HRQoL scores were normal compared with the Colombian population. Structural equation analysis showed that patients' HRQoL was negatively affected by anxiety levels and that the latter are associated with the patient's personality, where neuroticism is directly associated with symptomatology and inversely associated with extraversion. Conclusions The results of this study showed the importance of personality and emotional symptoms in the HRQoL of UIA patients. These results are important for developing strategies for psychological counseling in patients with UIAs.