RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Type D personality and depressive symptoms are independent predictors of impaired health status following acute myocardial infarction JF Heart JO Heart FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Cardiovascular Society SP 30 OP 35 DO 10.1136/hrt.2009.170357 VO 96 IS 1 A1 F Mols A1 E J Martens A1 J Denollet YR 2010 UL http://heart.bmj.com/content/96/1/30.abstract AB Objective: In this prospective follow-up study we investigated whether the type D personality construct (the tendency to experience negative emotions and to be socially inhibited) exerts an independent effect on disease-specific health status in post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients, after adjustment for disease severity and depressive symptoms.Methods: Patients (n = 503) were assessed on demographic and clinical variables and completed the type D scale (DS14) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) within the first week of hospital admission for acute MI. Two months post-MI, all patients completed the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) interview. After 18 months, they filled out the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) to assess disease-specific health status.Results: At follow-up, type D patients had significantly lower mean scores on all SAQ subscales, indicating worse disease-specific health status, compared to non-type D patients (all p values <0.01). After adjustment for disease severity and depression in multivariate analysis, type D patients still had more physical limitations (mean SAQ score: 49 versus 54; p = 0.014), less angina stability (62 versus 71; p = 0.002) and a less accurate disease perception (52 versus 61; p⩽0.001) compared with non-type D patients. Depressed patients (BDI ⩾10) also reported significantly lower SAQ scores compared to non-depressed patients.Conclusions: The type D construct is an independent predictor of impaired disease-specific health status. Type D personality, in addition to depression, may thus be an important psychological factor that deserves attention during the period of rehabilitation in post-MI patients.