[Association of temperament, character and depressive symptoms with clinical features of the ischaemic heart disease].
The aim of this study was to assess the associations between temperament and character, depressive symptoms and the intensity and the course of ischaemic heart disease.


METHODS
42 patients with ischaemic heart disease, aged 37-65 years, meeting the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria, participated in this study. The evaluation of temperament and character was performed using Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), and the intensity of depressive symptoms was assessed with Beck Depression Index (BDI). The clinical features of the illness were evaluated by structuralized interview.


RESULTS
Subjects with ischaemic heart disease presented significant severity of depresive symptoms on BDI (mean 19.9 points). Patients with higher intensity of ischaemic heart disease symptoms (with myocardial infraction, treated with interventional treatment) presented significantly greater severity of depression. Moreover these subjects were characterized with the specific features of temperament and character: higher level of harm avoidance and lower level of reward dependence. The longer duration of the illness was associated with the lower scores of the character trait--the ability to self-transcendence.


CONCLUSIONS
The obtained results may indicate, that the worse course of ischaemic heart disease and intensity of the illness are associated with the higher severity of depressive symptoms and with specific traits of temperament and character.
Borkowska
Alina
A
Zakładu Neuropsychologii Klinicznej, Collegium Medicum w Bydgoszczy Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu. alab@cm.umk.pl
Pulkowska
Joanna
J
Pulkowski
Grzegorz
G
Rybakowski
Filip
F
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002605:Character; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000150:complications; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011594:Psychometrics; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013694:Temperament