Musician's dystonia and comorbid anxiety: two sides of one coin?

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.