Emotional and Personality Traits are Determinants of Activity Avoidance in Chronic Rhinosinusitis Patients
Editor's Note: This Manuscript was accepted for publication on May 29, 2020.
The authors have no funding or conflicts of interest to declare.
This paper was presented as an oral presentation at the 2020 Combined Sections Meeting of the Triological Society, held on January 23–25, 2020 in Coronado, California, U.S.A.
Abstract
Objectives
Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), like other sinonasal diseases, may be associated with avoidance of daily activities. Our goal was to identify characteristics associated with avoidance of activities due to CRS.
Materials and Methods
A total of 194 CRS patients were recruited. CRS symptom burden was assessed with the 22-item Sinonasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22). SNOT-22 nasal, sleep, ear/facial discomfort and emotional/psychological subdomain scores were calculated. Depressed mood was assessed using the two-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2). Personality traits including conscientiousness, neuroticism, agreeableness, openness, and extraversion were assessed using the Big Five Inventory-10 (BFI-10) questionnaire. As the primary outcome, participants rated how often in the prior week that they had avoided any activities in day-to-day life due to their nasal or sinus symptoms on a scale of “never,” “rarely,” “sometimes,” “often,” or “extremely often.” Ordinal regression models, with bootstrap validation, were used to identify associations between activity avoidance and participants' characteristics.
Results
On multivariable analysis, SNOT-22 score (odds ratio [OR] = 1.03, 95% CI, 1.01–1.04, P = .026), and conscientiousness personality trait (OR = 1.38, 95% CI, 1.05–1.81, P = .019) were positively associated with activity avoidance while age (OR = 0.98, 95% CI, 0.96–0.99, P = .049) was negatively associated with activity avoidance. Of CRS symptom burden/SNOT-22 subdomains, only the emotional/psychological subdomain score (OR = 1.28, 95% CI, 1.12–1.46, P < .001) was associated with activity avoidance.
Conclusion
Younger age and the conscientiousness personality trait were associated with activity avoidance in CRS patients. Of CRS-associated symptomatology, sadness and embarrassment were associated with activity avoidance. Emotional traits and personality most strongly predict avoidance of activities in CRS patients.
Level of Evidence
2c. Laryngoscope, 131:707–712, 2021
