Quality of life, psychological states, and personality traits in patients with pectus excavatum

Objective

The quality of life (QOL) and psychological states of patients with pectus excavatum (PE) have yet to be well understood. This study aimed to evaluate the health-related QOL (HRQOL), psychological states, and personality traits of patients with PE, alongside the associations of these factors with the severity of PE.

Methods

A cross-sectional evaluation was prospectively performed in patients scheduled to undergo PE repair surgery between July 2019 and April 2021. The primary outcome was the patients’ HRQOL, and the secondary outcomes were depression, social anxiety, self-efficacy, and personality traits.

Results

In total, 129 patients were subjected to analyses. Patients' HRQOL had a lower role component summary score (mean ± standard deviation: 41.8 ± 12.8, P < .001) than the general population controls. Patients' HRQOL had a significantly better physical component summary (54.0 ± 10.4, P < .001) and mental component summary (53.3 ± 8.8, P < .001) than that of the general population. Fourteen patients' (10.9%) and 56 patients' (43.4%) scores indicated the presence of depression and social anxiety disorder, respectively. Patients’ self-efficacy (46.1 ± 11.4, P, .001) and level of extraversion (46.5 ± 11.8, P < .001) were lower than those of the general population. No significant correlation was found between the severity of PE and these scores.

Conclusions

Our study revealed that patients with PE had decreased social-role QOL, depressive tendencies, increased social anxiety, lower self-efficacy, and introversion. No correlation between the severity of PE and the patients’ psychological outcomes leads us to conclude that surgical implications of PE should not be decided solely by a physical index.