Personality traits of patients with fibromyalgia and myofascial pain syndromes

Purpose: This study was carried out to determine the personality traits, depression levels of women with fibromyalgia syndromes (FMS) and myofascial pain syndromes (MPS) and to compare the two patient groups. Materials and methods: 120 patients (60 with FMS, 60 with MPS) participated in the study. Pain intensity of the patients was measured by visual analog scale (VAS). Beck Depression Inventory was used to evaluate depression levels of the patients. The personality traits of the cases were evaluated by Hacettepe Personality Inventory (HPI). Results: Pain intensity and depression levels of the group with FMS were significantly higher than the group with MPS (p<0.05). Two groups were similar for scores of emotional determination, neurotic bias, family relation subscales and personal, general consistency scales of HPI (p>0.05). Both groups' scores of social consistency scale were at critical level. Conclusion: Chronic painful diseases such as FMS and MPS reduce physical performance and may also negatively affect psychological and personal profiles of patients. There is a need for comprehensive studies, which evaluate psychological and personal profiles in patients with FMS and MPS.