Cluster analysis of personality profiles determined by the Sixteen
Personality Factor Questionnaire separated 79 patients with duodenal ulcer
into three homogeneous subgroups: 32 dependent and anxious patients, 31
neurotic and anxious patients, and 16 patients with a balanced personality.
No significant differences among these three groups emerged for the
variables of age, sex, duration of illness, fasting total serum pepsinogen,
fasting serum pepsinogen group I, and number of cigarettes smoked per day,
although there was a nonsignificant trend for both pepsinogen values to be
higher in the patients with a balanced personality than in the other two
groups. These results support the concept of heterogeneity of peptic ulcer
disease.Abstract Teaser