title: Temperament and character traits in patients with tinnitus: a prospective case series with comparisons.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the personality traits of temperament and character in patients with tinnitus and to identify differences in these traits associated with the severity of tinnitus.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case series with comparisons.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tertiary referral centre.
  
  
  METHODS
  From January to December 2014, one hundred and thirty-four adult patients with chronic subjective tinnitus completed psychoacoustic measurements of tinnitus and the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Personality traits were assessed by the TCI. The TCI assesses seven dimensions of personality traits and four temperaments 'novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence, persistence', as well as three characters 'self-directedness, cooperativeness, self-transcendence'.
  
  
  METHODS
  The values of the TCI parameters in the tinnitus patients were compared with reference data from a non-institutional adult population, and associations between TCI parameter values and tinnitus severity were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In terms of temperament, tinnitus patients had higher scores for 'harm avoidance', whereas scores for 'novelty seeking', 'reward dependence' and 'persistence' were significantly lower than the reference. In terms of character, lower 'cooperativeness' and 'self-transcendence' were identified in the subjects with tinnitus. The 'novelty seeking' score was inversely related to tinnitus severity (r = -0.285, P = 0.001), while other temperament and character traits did not show significant correlations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There may be a connection between tinnitus and personality traits, especially in the case of 'novelty seeking', which is relatively constant over a lifetime. The TCI questionnaire may be useful in facilitating the application of personality traits to tailored counselling for tinnitus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: J H
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6884-7927
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Byun
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Counseling Psychology, Honam University, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: E Y
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Jang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013694:Temperament; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000523:psychology*