title: Personality factors and depression as predictors of hospital-based health care utilization following acute myocardial infarction.
abstract: Whether personality factors and depressive traits affect patients' utilization of health care following an acute myocardial infarction is relatively unknown. The aim of this study was to examine whether hospital-based health care utilization after a myocardial infarction was correlated with patients' personality factors and depressive symptoms.
  
  
  
  We studied 366 myocardial infarction patients admitted to Malmö University Hospital between 2002 and 2005 who subsequently participated in a cardiac rehabilitation programme. The patients were followed for two years after their index event. We investigated whether personality factors and depressive traits were correlated with the participants' health care utilization, defined as a) out-patient Cardiology visits and phone calls to a physician, nurse or a social worker, and b) acute visits or admissions to the Emergency or Cardiology Departments, using negative binominal regression analysis.
  
  
  
  In unadjusted comparisons neuroticism predicted more out-patient contacts. This significance remained after adjusting for age, sex, smoking, alcohol consumption and size of the myocardial infarction (measured as max level on troponin-I and left ventricular ejection fraction). There were no significant correlations between other personality factors or depression and out-patient contacts. None of the personality factors or depression predicted acute admissions.
  
  
  
  Apart from neuroticism, personality factors did not explain utilization of health care in terms of Cardiology out-patient contacts or acute admissions in myocardial infarction patients participating in a cardiac rehabilitation programme. Neither did depressive symptoms predict more health care utilization. This might indicate a robust cardiac rehabilitation programme offered to the study subjects, minimizing the need for additional health care contacts.
authors: 1 Department of Cardiology, Skåne University Hospital and Lund University, Lund and Malmö, Sweden.|2 Faculty of Health and Society, Malmö University, Sweden.
authors: Mona
authors: M
authors: Schlyter
authors: 2 Faculty of Health and Society, Malmö University, Sweden.
authors: Margareta
authors: M
authors: Östman
authors: 3 Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Group, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.
authors: Gunnar
authors: G
authors: Engström
authors: 4 Department of Neurology, Skåne University Hospital, Lund and Malmö, Sweden.
authors: Lena
authors: L
authors: André-Petersson
authors: 1 Department of Cardiology, Skåne University Hospital and Lund University, Lund and Malmö, Sweden.
authors: Patrik
authors: P
authors: Tydén
authors: 1 Department of Cardiology, Skåne University Hospital and Lund University, Lund and Malmö, Sweden.
authors: Margrét
authors: M
authors: Leosdottir
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003866:Depressive Disorder; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000523:psychology*; D010045:Outpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D010551:Personality
keywords: Personality factors; depressive traits; health care utilization; myocardial infarction