Association between affective temperaments and arterial stiffness index in chronic hypertensive patients

Introduction: Affective temperaments (depressive, anxious, cyclothymic, hyperthymic, irritable) are genetically determined, adult-stable parts of the personality that characterize emotional responses to environmental stimuli. The arterial stiffness index demonstrates the ratio of the actually measured and expected pulse wave velocity (PWV) of a given individual. The positive value is considered to be abnormal. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between affective temperaments and arterial stiffness index in chronic hypertensive patients. Method: Carotid-femoral PWV, the most accepted marker of arterial stiffness, was measured using a tonometric device (PulsePen). The arterial stiffness index was determined as the ratio of measured and expected PWVs. Affective temperaments were evaluated by the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A). Results: The study included 185 patients, with a mean age of 61.6 (49.5–69.8) years. We found association between arterial stiffness index and depressive (B = 0.009, 95% CI: 0.009–0.017, p = 0.018), cyclothymic (B = 0.009, 95% CI: 0.002–0.016, p = 0.012), irritable (B = 0.013, 95% CI: 0.005–0.021, p = 0.001), and anxious (B = 0.008, 95% CI: 0.003–0.013, p = 0.001) temperaments independent of age, sex, diabetes, alcohol consumption, smoking, BMI, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, and GFR. Conclusion: An additional relationship between a cardiovascular risk measure and affective temperaments has been demonstrated, confirming the importance of determining these personality traits aiming cardiovascular prevention in addition to their known psychopathological aspects. Orv Hetil. 2022; 163(8): 312–318.