Type D personality and depressive symptoms are independent predictors of impaired health status in chronic heart failure.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether Type D personality exerts a stable, independent effect on health status in CHF over time, adjusted for depressive symptoms.


METHODS
CHF outpatients (n=166; 75% men; mean age 66 years) completed the Type D Scale and Beck Depression Inventory (baseline) and the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire and Short-Form Health Survey (baseline and 12 months).


RESULTS
There was a general improvement in disease-specific physical (p=.029) and mental (p<.001) health over time, but Type D patients scored significantly lower on both outcomes (p<or=.001). The interaction effects Type D x time were not significant, indicating stability of the personality effect. Type D patients also scored significantly lower on all generic physical (p values between .001 and .04) and mental (all p values <.001) health status subdomains; these effects were also stable over time. Type D was an independent predictor of disease-specific mental health (p<.001), social functioning (p=.04), role emotional functioning (p<.001), bodily pain (p=.05), and general health (p=.04), adjusted for depressive symptoms, baseline health status and clinical characteristics. Depressive symptom was an independent predictor of role physical functioning and bodily pain.


CONCLUSIONS
Type D personality and depressive symptoms were independent predictors of impaired health status in CHF.
Schiffer
Angélique A
AA
CoRPS - Center of Research on Psychology in Somatic diseases, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands. Angelique.schiffer@uvt.n
Pedersen
Susanne S
SS
Widdershoven
Jos W
JW
Denollet
Johan
J
D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory