Effect of the personality traits of the patient on pain perception and attitude toward orthodontic treatment

Abstract

Abstract Objective: The objective was to evaluate the relationship between personality traits, pain perception, and person’s attitude toward orthodontic treatment. Materials and Methods: The sample comprised of two groups: Group 1 consisted of 100 treated subjects (50 males, 50 females; average age, 16.07 ± 1.36 years), and Group 2 consisted of 100 untreated subjects (50 males, 50 females; average age, 16.07 ± 1.41 years). The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire that included an assessment of patients’ personality profiles, pain expectation for untreated subjects, pain experience for treated subjects, and attitude toward orthodontic treatment. Results: Gender and treatment status did not affect pain perception and attitude of a person toward orthodontic treatment. There was a strong relationship between pain perception and attitude with Pearson’s correlation of 0.367 and P ≤ 0.0001. With one unit increase in attitude there was 0.43 units increase in pain. Patients with high levels of trait neuroticism (P = 0.01) and low levels of trait conscientiousness (P = 0.02) experienced more pain. Patients with high levels of trait conscientiousness showed better attitude (P = 0.01). Conclusion: Personality traits, neuroticism, and conscientiousness have effect on pain perception and attitude of patients toward orthodontic treatment. Patients with better attitude experienced less pain and patients with less pain exhibited better attitude.