TYPE D PERSONALITY

Introduction: The prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is escalatingspeedily in the developing world including Pakistan. CVD is considered to be one of the leadingcauses of deaths in near future. The CVD is believed to be associated with personality factorsand the researches continue to refine the key elements predisposing cardiovascular disease.The objective of the study was to explore the construct of a Type A behavior pattern and Type Dpersonality in patients with cardiovascular disease and healthy controls. Settings: CardiologyOPD of the hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Methods: The psychometric tools used tomeasure these constructs are the Type A behavior pattern scale (TABP), Type D personality Scale(DS14) and Revised Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCS-R). 100 patients with cardiovasculardisease having coronary heart disease and myocardial infarction were compared with 100healthy controls in terms of relevant aspects of their cardiovascular functioning. Traditionalemphasis has been that Type A is a predictor of CVD. Results: The study results indicatethat the Type D is a better predictor of cardiovascular heart disease as compared to Type A.Furthermore, the results indicate that frequency of Type A and Type D is more prevalent in CVDpatients than in the healthy controls. Conclusion: Making an allowance for the high frequencyof Type A and Type D personality in cardiovascular disease, controlling the behavior patternscan be useful for prevention of risk as well as for creating better management of CVD patients.