Personality traits and perception of pain in fibromyalgia: A pilot study of cases and controls

Through the present study is intended to evaluate the influence of personality traits on the level and type of reported. Sample: 80 participants, all women aged between 31 and 63 years old, divided into two groups, Fibromyalgia group (FM) and control group. Material and method: The Fibromyalgia Questionnaire Impact (FIQ) was administered to assess the impact of Fibromyalgia, Temperament-Character Inventory Revised (TCI-R) to assess personality dimensions and McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) for the evaluation for assessment and perception of mechanically induced pain. Results: Are observed some differences between the FM group and the control group in the assessment of pain and dimensions Novelty Seeking (NS), Harm Avoidance (HA) and Self-Direction (SD). In addition, it is found that dimensions HA (p = 0.00) and Cooperation (COOP)  (p = 0.12) correlate significantly with the perception of pain in the FM group. CONCLUSIONS. It is found that there are differences in personality traits and perception of pain between the FM group and the control group. In the same way, although does not explain all of the variance, it is found that personality traits HA and COOP predict the level and type of pain reported with a percentage of explained total variance of a 21%.