ABSTRACT

Objective: Personality types are known to influence the risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) including myocardial infarction (MI). Individuals with Type A personality are highly driven while those with Type B are relaxed and easy going. Type D personality is another personality type in which people tend to be insecure, irritable and anxious. The aim of the study was to determine the personality types of hospitalized MI patients and find correlation between personality types and negative psychological traits.

Methods: The cross-sectional study of post-MI hospitalized patients (n=300) used Rosemann-Friedman Personality Assessment (RFPA) and Type D scale 14 (DS-14) for personality assessment. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was employed for evaluating anxiety and depression. Based on RFPA scores, subjects were grouped as; Group 1 (Type B personality), Group 2 (Balanced personality) and Group 3 (Type A personality). One-way ANOVA was employed to asses mean differences between groups. Pearson correlation was used to assess correlation of psychological parameters and personality types.

Results: Type D personality is very common (98%) in patients with MI. Post-MI patients having type A personality show significantly higher scores of social inhibition (p=0.001), negative affectivity (p= 0.000), anxiety (p= 0.001) and depression (p=0.000). All the studied parameters showed significant positive correlation with type A personality.

Conclusion: Post-MI patients having type A personality are more prone to anxiety, depression, social inhibition and negative affectivity. Personality assessment and counselling may be beneficial in clinical management of these patients.

Keywords: Myocardial infarction, Personality, Anxiety, Depression