Comparing Personality Types, Everyday Memory, and Rumination Among Stroke, Heart Attack, and Dialysis Patients

Background: Psychological causes, in addition to some physiological factors, can play roles in the development of non-communicable diseases. Stroke, heart attack, and dialysis patients experience physical and cognitive disorders. This study was carried out to compare personality types, everyday memory, and rumination among stroke, heart attack, and dialysis patients. Methods: In this descriptive study, which followed by a causal-comparative design, 90 stroke (30), heart attack (30), and dialysis (30) patients were selected in Zahedan, in 2017, using a convenience sampling method. Data were collected using NEO Personality Types Inventory (NEO - 60), Sunderland Everyday Memory Scale, as well as the Ghorbani Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire and were analyzed step by step via SPSS23. Results: Results indicated that there were significant differences among the stroke, heart attack, and dialysis patients with regard to openness. However, no significant differences were found considering other personality types (P < 0.05). Moreover, mean scores on rumination and everyday memory of the stroke patients were greater than those of the dialysis and heart attack patients. Conclusions: As long as a person’s cognitive system is involved with stressful events related to a trauma, his/her memory structure has a low performance, which decreases adherence and response to rehabilitation and affects the person’s quality of life as well as improvement of his/her performance.