Abstract
The purposes of this study are to describe the psychological characteristics of face and palm hyperhidrosis patients and to compare the psychological features of the patients before and after endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy (ETS). We conducted three psychological tests before and three months after ETS; Tokyo University Egogram (TEG), Profile of Mood States (POMS), and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). The patients also were given our unique questionnaire for compensatory hyperhidrosis after ETS.
The result of TEG showed that the hyperhidrosis patients had passive and dependent character, and changed to a more adaptive character after ETS, although the percentages of adaptive and maladaptive patterns in males were not significantly different between subjects and controls. We found by POMS that mood condition of the patients did not statistically differ from that of controls, but improved after ETS. MMPI proved that about 10% of patients had high scores on Psychasthenia scale, Paranoia scale and Depression scale, and that these scores decreased after ETS. We found by our questionnaire that compensatory hyperhidrosis existed in all cases, of which 40% experienced disturbances in their daily lives, but about 95% of all cases were satisfied with the ETS.
In conclusion, we found that the ego state of hyperhidrosis patients changed more adaptively and self-positively, and mood condition was improved after ETS. However the result of our questionnaire suggested that patient's character should be considered profoundly before ETS.
