Abstract
Background: Psychological abnormalities, including anxiety, have been observed in patients with musician's dystonia (MD). It is unclear if these conditions develop prior to MD or if they are psychoreactive phenomena. Methods: Psychological conditions were studied in 44 professional musicians with MD, 45 healthy musicians, and 44 healthy nonmusicians using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Results: Musicians with MD had significantly higher STAI state and trait anxiety scores than healthy musicians (P = .009 and P = .012, respectively) and nonmusicians (P = .013 and P = .001, respectively) and significantly higher NEO-FFI neuroticism scores than healthy musicians (P = .018) and nonmusicians (P = .001). Duration of dystonia did not correlate with anxiety or neuroticism scores. Conclusions: Musicians with MD display increased levels of anxiety and neuroticism. The lack of correlation between anxiety and the duration of dystonia suggests that anxiety may not be a psychoreactive phenomenon and is consistent with the hypothesis that anxiety and MD share a common pathophysiological mechanism.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Journal | Movement Disorders |
Volume | 26 |
Issue number | 3 |
Pages (from-to) | 539-542 |
Number of pages | 4 |
ISSN | 0885-3185 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 15.02.2011 |