Personality traits, cardiac risk factors, and their association with presence and severity of coronary artery plaque in people with no history of cardiovascular disease

Abstract

BACKGROUND Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a multifactorial complex disease. The aim of the present study is to verify whether the personality traits in CAD are associated with coronary artery plaque (CAP) presence and severity in people with no history of cardiovascular disease. DESIGN A cross-sectional monocenter study. METHODS Seventy five individuals with no history of CAD underwent 64-slice computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) and were screened for traditional cardiac risk factors and for hostility, anger, and type D personality traits. RESULTS In total, 48 patients (64%) had evidence of CAP, with mild (31%), moderate (33%), and severe (35%) coronary stenosis. Male sex, hypertension, being overweight, and number of cardiovascular risk factors increased the likelihood of CAP presence. Findings showed a significant difference between CAP presence vs. CAP absence for anger (26 vs. 30%, 2 = 6.82) and type D personality (23 vs. 35%; 2 = 8.23, P = 0.03), but not hostility (P > 0.05). Anger personality, and the type D subscale social inhibition, but not negative affectivity, were associated with an increased prevalence and severity of CAP. Univariate analysis confirms anger (odds ratio, OR = 1.38, 95% confidence interval, CI = 1.12-2.31), social inhibition (OR = 2.01, 95% CI = 1.81-2.93), 'negative affectivity by social inhibition' (OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.12-2.14), and type D personality (OR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.11-2.03) as predictors of CAP presence. Moreover, multivariate analysis suggests social inhibition as also a unique CAP predictor (OR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.89-2.96) after adjustment for having cardiac risk factors as a covariate. CONCLUSION The present data confirm the core role of traditional risk factors and suggest the primacy of social inhibition and anger personality traits in association with CAP presence and severity.

Individual vulnerability to burnout in nurses: The role of Type D personality within different nursing specialty areas

“…Findings from theories of emotion and self-regulation indicate that expressive suppression increases sympathetic activation of the cardiovascular system (Gross, 2002;Muraven & Baumeister, 2000). Moreover, high dispositional negative affectivity or anger may serve to amplify negative emotional responses, and this may have biological correlates that stimulate cardiac dysfunction (Compare et al, 2014;Pedersen & Denollet, 2003).…”

“…Type D personality has been associated with poor prognosis and increased risk of morbidity and mortality in cardiac patients (Compare et al, 2014;Pedersen & Denollet, 2003). A potential mechanism underlying this finding may be increased sympathetic activation, which has been found to be associated with emotional expressive suppression (Gross, 2002).…”

Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Patients With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Ptsd): A Narrative Review

“…It is also associated with heightened proinflammatory cytokine activation in patients with heart failure , and with disturbances in cortisol secretion after acute coronary syndrome (Whitehead et al 2007). More recently, type-D personality was associated with coronary artery plaque presence and severity in people with no history of cardiovascular disease, even after adjustment for typical cardiac risk factors (Compare et al 2014).…”

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“…The synergistic effect of negative affectivity and social inhibition involves a higher risk of several emotional and social difficulties, such as depression, anxiety, a low level of subjective well-being, lack of social support and low quality of life [18]. Type D personality was based on the knowledge that psychosocial factors are associated with cardiovascular outcomes [19], and negative emotions and social inhibitions have been given special attention [20]. Type D personality has been associated with a variety of emotional and social difficulties, as well as increased morbidity and mortality in patients with established cardiovascular disease (CVD) [21].…”