Background & Aims: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common neurological disease in young adults which has made problems for young adults and also made them to be independent in their life. Clinical studies show that everyday life stress gradually can affect the activity of various body systems as well as immune system and also can damage and disturbed it. The objective of the current study was to compare the  personality traits and emotional intelligence in female and male patients with multiple sclerosis.

Materials & Methods: This descriptive and comparative study was conducted on 150 MS patients (58 men and 92 female) who referred to MS Society and Imam Khomeini Hospital in Urmia city. The tools for collecting the data were Emotional Bar on Intelligence Questionnaire and Short Personality Inventory (NEO - FFI – R). For analyzing the data, the statistical methods including means, standard deviation and T-test were used.

Results: There was a significant difference between the five factor personality traits among men and women. There also was a significant difference between men and women considering emotional intelligence, responsibility, empathy, flexibility, stress tolerance, and problem solving.

Conclusions: Medical treatment along with the psychological conseling and training emotional intelligence and Cognitive behavioral therapy are also suggested.

SOURCE: URMIA MED J 2015: 26(1): 91 ISSN: 1027-3727