[Psychopathology and personality of patients with heart disease]

To know the psychological aspects involved in cardiac ailments and whether there was a distinctive personality profile of each disorder.

We evaluated 137 patients with congenital heart, acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or awaiting a heart transplant who came to the National Institute of Cardiology Ignacio Chavez. We used multiphase Personality Inventory, which provides information on personality traits and psychopathology.

There were significant differences between some cardiac sufferings and the scales that the inventory measures, as well as the existence of differences between sexes.

The diseases associated with the heart involve not only some physical and psychological consequences, but also significant psychological consequences depending on the type of heart disease. Those with a congenital heart had better conditions than other emotional heart diseases studied. For their part, those who have suffered IAM are showing higher depressive Levels (being higher in males), while those more concerned about their health in this study were patients awaiting heart transplantation. That is why it is important to take into account the psychological aspects in the cardiac conditions to achieve a better multidisciplinary management.