Impact of Anal Fissure on Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness: A Case-Control Study

Introduction: Scientific literature on determining patterns of personality traits in patients with anal fissure is limited.

Objectives: To determine whether certain common psychological traits are associated with anal fissure.

Methods: A case-control study was carried out in Spain in 2016-2017. Patients with acute or chronic idiopathic anal fissure (n = 35) and controls (n = 32) were recruited. The main outcome measures were those defined in the NEO-FFI questionnaire, validated in Spain, which was administered to all the participants. This questionnaire evaluates the following traits: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.

Results: Three significant traits were noted: (1) greater neuroticism in the cases (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.08-1.32, p < 0.001, AUC 0.77), (2) greater openness to experience in the controls (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.83-0.98, p = 0.015, AUC 0.69), and (3) greater conscientiousness in the controls (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.83-1.00, p = 0.049, AUC 0.69).

Conclusions: The cases mainly presented higher levels of neuroticism and lower levels of openness to experience and conscientiousness. Further studies are needed to corroborate our results.