Gynecological surgical interventions (conservative and non-conservative): Clinical psychological variables and symptomatology pertaining to perioperative period

Objective: After considering great inter-individual variability of subjective experience and clinical course in reference to conservative and non-conservative gynecological surgical interventions, an attempt was made to evaluate potential role of several clinical and psychological variables with respect to perioperative symptomatology course and illness behaviour. Materials and methods: The sample consists of 58 women (mean age 41.4 ± 8.7) undergoing gynecological surgical interventions (conservative and non-conservative ones) for benign pathologies. The anamnestic and clinical data (psychological anamnesis, clinical history, indications, methods and typology of the intervention) were collected using a specifically designed summary form. For the evaluation of pre-and post-operative symptomatology course and illness behaviour, the following psychological tests were respectively used: The Symptom Questionnaire (SQ), with 3 planned administrations (respectively 15 days before the intervention, a day before the intervention and at discharge) and the Illness Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ), completed before discharge. Non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis) were used to compare performances on independent samples. Results: Results show that perioperative course and illness behaviour in the cases of gynecological surgical interventions for benign pathologies depend on clinical variables, that is, typology and methods of the intervention, clinical history, psychopathological anamnesis. Conclusion: Findings suggest the importance of clinical-anamnestic inquiry oriented towards the evaluation of variables that emerged as risk factors, with the goal of planning personalized support interventions for preventing and/or reducing distress and impact on psychophysical wellbeing arising after gynaecological surgical interventions

Multidimensional clinical evaluation of subjects with pre-menopausal syndrome

Aims: The principal aim of the present study consists on the analysis and description of the psychological influences on a large number of symptoms that usually characterized women's menopausal period. The effort of the research is to describe some steadies traits of personality or life styles able to explain the complexity of the clinical picture. Methods: 30 women were consecutively chosen from the Menopausal Centre of a Department of Gynecology and were administered the following psychological tests: Symptom Questionnaire (SQ; Fava e Kellner, 1981), Sixteen Personality Factors Questionnaire-5 (16PF-5; Cattell, 1956) and Pisa Stress Questionnaire (PSQ; Pruneti, 1996). Subjects were divided into 3 groups: polymenorrea, oligomenorrea, amenorrea. Kruskal Wallis statistical test was utilised for the comparison between groups. Moreover the Mann-Whitney statistical test was employed to analyse differences on stress-related behaviours and personality characteristics between subjects who referred flushing, sweating or other vasomotor signs and subjects who did not refer them. Correlation test of Spearman and linear regression were calculated to find relations between different psychological indexes and were utilised for valuating the influence of these on the others. Results: No significant difference was found in subjects with amenorrea, oligomenorrea and polymenorrea and from the comparison between subjects with or without flushes - sweats on ways of life, on typical behaviours, on personality's dimensions and on psycological and emotional status. Instead, many statistical relevant correlations and relations that described the typical answer configurations and the kind of relationship between the considered variables were found. Conclusions: Obtained results show that some steadies personality traits seems to be able to predict the manifestation of some of the symptoms and of some stress related behaviours strictly correlated with the PMS. It is important to underline the relevance of a multidisciplinary approach on women during the menopausal period