Abstract
The aim of our initial study was to investigate whether predisposition to neurotic disorders is depended on whether the patient completed the questionnaire before or after planned heart surgery. A survey was conducted on a group of 70 patients at the University Hospital in Plzen.
Forty-eight-item Middlesex Hospital Questionnaire (MHQ) was used to measure the predisposition to neurotic disorders. This survey did not show a statistically significant difference between the predisposition to neurotic disorders measured by the MHQ questionnaire before and after planned heart surgery The data showed that predisposition to neurotic disorders was a significant predictor of heart disease.
The results indicated that the MHQ questionnaire measured predisposition to neuroticism as a personality trait and virtually ignored the actual psychological state of the patient which may have been affected, e.g. by concerns about the planned operation.