Objective

Our objective was to investigate psychological correlates in a population with primary aldosteronism (PA) using methods found to be sensitive and reliable in psychosomatic research.

Methods

Twenty-three PA patients (12 male, 11 female; mean age 50 ± 9 yr) were compared with 23 patients with essential hypertension (EH) (15 male, eight female; mean age 47 ± 8 yr) and 23 matched normotensive subjects. A modified version of the Structural Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, a shortened version of the structured interview for the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research, and two self-rating questionnaires, the Psychosocial Index and the Symptom Questionnaire, were administered.

Results

Twelve of 23 patients withPA(52.2%) suffered from an anxiety disorder compared with four of 23 with EH (17.4%) and one control (4.3%) (P < 0.001). Generalized anxiety disorderwasmorefrequent inPAthan inEHpatientsandcontrols (P<0.05). As assessed by Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research, irritablemoodwas more frequent inPAandEHcompared with controls (P < 0.05) but did not differentiate PA from EH. According to Psychosocial Index results, patients with PA had higher levels of stress (P < 0.01) and psychological distress (P<0.01) and lower level of well-being (P<0.05) than controls. Compared with EH patients, PA patients had higher scores in stress subscale (P < 0.05). The Symptom Questionnaire showed higher levels of anxiety (P < 0.01), depression (P<0.01) and somatization (P<0.01) and lower physical wellbeing (P < 0.05) in PA than controls.

Conclusion

A role of mineralocorticoid regulatory mechanisms in clinical situations concerned with anxiety and stress is suggested.

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