Personality Traits and Tinnitus Distress: Results Based on Patients with Tinnitus in China

BACKGROUND: Due to the socio-cultural differences between China and other countries, which may affect the development of an individual’s personality and behavior, it is necessary to explore the relationship between personality traits and tinnitus distress in the context of China’s socio-cultural background. METHODS: The Tinnitus Handicap Inventory and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Short Scale Chinese version were used to explore the influence of personality traits on tinnitus distress in Chinese patients with tinnitus. RESULTS: The results were not entirely consistent with previous studies from other countries. First, extroversion was significantly higher in patients with bothersome tinnitus, both in acute and chronic conditions. Second, the personality traits that affected the patients with bothersome tinnitus were different in different conditions. Finally, the tridimensional personality structure, high psychoticism / normal extroversion / normal neuroticism, was significantly higher in people with bothersome tinnitus. Furthermore, the difference became more obvious with a prolonged disease course. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested that the relationship between personality traits and tinnitus distress in Chinese patients with tinnitus was not the same as in other countries. “High psychoticism / normal extroversion / normal neuroticism” may be a risk factor for chronic bothersome tinnitus in China.