Emotional and Personality Traits are Determinants of Activity Avoidance in Chronic Rhinosinusitis Patients

Madison V Epperson; Katie M Phillips; Marlene M Speth; David S Caradonna; Stacey T Gray; Ahmad R Sedaghat

doi:10.1002/lary.28879

Emotional and Personality Traits are Determinants of Activity Avoidance in Chronic Rhinosinusitis Patients

Laryngoscope. 2021 Apr;131(4):707-712. doi: 10.1002/lary.28879. Epub 2020 Jul 6.

Authors

Madison V Epperson¹, Katie M Phillips¹, Marlene M Speth², David S Caradonna^{3

4}, Stacey T Gray^{3

5}, Ahmad R Sedaghat¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.
² Klinik für Hals-, Nasen-, Ohren- Krankheiten, Hals-und Gesichtschirurgie, Aarau, Switzerland.
³ Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
⁴ Division of Otolaryngology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
⁵ Department of Otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

PMID: 32628769
DOI: 10.1002/lary.28879

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.

Keywords: chronic rhinosinusitis, personality, mood, activity avoidance, productivity, BFI-10, SNOT-22, PHQ-2.

MeSH terms

Activities of Daily Living / psychology*
Avoidance Learning*
Chronic Disease
Emotions*
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Personality*
Rhinitis / psychology*
Sino-Nasal Outcome Test
Sinusitis / psychology*
Symptom Assessment