Am J Psychiatry 1985; 142:1453-1455
Copyright © 1985 by American Psychiatric Association
Hearing and premorbid personality in paranoid states
JA Watt
The author studied the hearing and premorbid personality of 79 patients
whose illnesses began before they were 60 years old. Hearing was assessed
by pure-tone audiometry and premorbid personality by interviewing
relatives. Thirty-two patients had paranoid states, 32 matched patients had
recurrent unipolar depression, and 15 patients had schizophrenia. Three
paranoid patients and two depressed patients met DSM-III criteria for
premorbid paranoid personality. There was no consistent difference in
hearing loss between paranoid and depressed patients or between paranoid
patients and a population control group. The author concludes that
premorbid paranoid personality and hearing loss are not associated with
paranoid states in middle age.
