Does a 155-item psychological questionnaire predict subsequent first myocardial infarction in multiphasic examinees?
Psychological traits assessed by questionnaire may predict MI, but care must be taken to distinguish these traits from early symptoms of coronary heart disease.
A 155-item psychological questionnaire was given to 330 multiphasic examinees who subsequently developed a well-documented first myocardial infarction (MI). Two age-sex-race-matched control groups remaining free of MI were selected from multiphasic examinees; one group was additionally matched to the cases for standard coronary risk factors. Responses to several questionnaire items were associated with subsequent MI to a statistically significant degree, and a further test indicated that the questionnaire as a whole contained more associated items than would be expected by chance. Outside experts selected items to represent certain psychological traits that have been hypothesized as predicting MI. Items representing “emotional drain” and “somatization” proved to be associated with subsequent MI, but these relationships were no longer apparent when persons with coronary symptoms and diagnoses at the time of testing were removed from the study group. Sets of items representing certain other traits were not significantly predictive, except for those representing “anxietyneuroticism,” in the symptom-free subgroup. In studying factors predicting MI, care should be taken that psychological traits are not confused with symptoms of coronary heart disease.
Friedman et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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