[French version of the video structured interview designed for type A behavior pattern assessment]

The current controversy on the predictive value of the Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP) as a coronary risk factor brought into a reconsideration of the assessment methods of this pattern. The Video Structured Interview (VSI) is a scoring method of TABP by a trained investigator, consisting of a rating scale based both on the content of the answers and on the psychomotor signs, with regard to the two main components of the TABP: sense of time urgency and hostility. The VSI appears a more objective instrument than self-assessment questionnaires, avoiding the bias of denial, a coping mechanism widely used by type A subjects. The VSI proved more sensitive and more specific than the self-assessment methods or the structured interview (SI), the initial instrument aimed to assess TABP among coronary risk patients in american populations. We here present the french version of the VSI, the technical modes of the interview and the principles of this scoring method, in order to introduce in France its use in further studies related with coronary risk factors.