Hearing and premorbid personality in paranoid states.

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.