Personality Traits, Illness Acceptance, and Psychosocial Outcomes in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background/

Objectives

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects respiratory function, psychological well-being, and quality of life. Personality traits may be associated with adaptation to chronic illness. This study evaluated associations between Five-Factor personality traits, illness acceptance, and selected self-reported psychosocial outcomes in patients with COPD.

Methods

A cross-sectional study included 120 hospitalized patients who reported a diagnosis of COPD between January 2025 and March 2026. Personality traits were assessed using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory, and illness acceptance using the Acceptance of Illness Scale. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected with an original questionnaire.

Results

Participants showed mean sten scores within the average range for neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, whereas openness was lower than the average range. The mean illness acceptance score was 24.67 ± 2.62, corresponding to moderate acceptance. Higher neuroticism was associated with poorer self-rated adaptation, more frequent dyspnea-related anxiety, and lower self-rated quality of life; neuroticism also differed across categories of daily-functioning limitation (H = 19.909, p < 0.001). Higher extraversion was associated with better self-rated adaptation, more favorable self-rated treatment outcomes, and higher self-rated quality of life. Openness correlated negatively with illness acceptance (ρ = -0.338, p < 0.001).

Conclusions

In this sample, personality traits showed unadjusted associations with illness acceptance and selected self-reported psychosocial outcomes. These hypothesis-generating findings should be interpreted cautiously and require confirmation in studies using objective clinical indicators and multivariable analyses.