Muscle endurance, muscle tension and personality traits in patients with muscle or joint pain--a pilot study.

Objective: To investigate the relationships between personality traits, depressive symptomatology and continuous muscle tension.

Methods: These were investigated by means of a visual analog scale and the presence of continuous muscle tension during repeated isokinetic shoulder flexions in patients with muscle or joint pain and controls.

Results: A significantly higher level of muscle tension between contractions was found in the patient groups in painful muscles. The patients with primary fibromyalgia and trapezius myalgia differed in degree of depressive symptomatology compared to controls.

Conclusion: Inhibition of aggression correlated significantly with the tension level between contractions during the isokinetic test indicating interaction between psychological and somatic factors.