Personality Traits and Perception of Disability after Facial Palsy

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine and quantify how personality traits modulate the well-known relation between neuromuscular impairment and perception of physical and social disability in patients with facial palsy. Methods: Sixty-one patients with facial palsy were evaluated through the Sunnybrook Facial Grading System (SFGS), the Facial Disability Index (FDI), the Beck depression Inventory (BDI) and the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). To estimate the effect of the personality traits on physical and social disability as regards neuromuscular impairment, two polynomial models were fitted and validated using specific personality variants and the SFGS composite score as explanatory variables. Results: A role of personality traits in modulating perception of both functional and social/well-being disability was enlightened. A linear effect of the Self-Directedness and the Cooperativeness traits on the perception of functional disability as regards facial impairment was estimated, equal respectively to -0.21 points [CI 95 (-0.35; -0.07)] and +0.23 points [CI 95 (0.06; 0.39)] in FDI score for any level of deviation from the average of each personality trait. As regards social/well-being disability, a linear effect of Novelty Seeking and Persistence traits was estimated, equal respectively to +3.88 points [CI 95 (1.25; 6.49)] and +6.58 points [CI 95 (0.21; 13.17)] for any level of deviation from the average. Conclusion: Personality traits differently influence the relation between disability perception and neuromuscular impairment in facial palsy. This issue might be useful to improve the relationship between physician and patient and to allow personalized therapeutic interventions.