The Type AD Personality: A composite personality construct and its association with coronary artery disease

The prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) in India is about 7% to 13%. CAD may exacerbate psychological distress and raise the risk of cardiac event following surgeries.

To study the impact of personality type on psychological distress in individuals having CAD who underwent coronary angioplasty.

This cross-sectional correlational study was carried out in the Cardiology department of a tertiary care hospital on 40 patients who had undergone coronary angioplasty for CAD. Data were collected during a period of 3 to 10 months, post coronary angioplasty. The subjects were interviewed and evaluated with the Type A/B Behaviour Pattern Scale, Type D Scale-14, Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale, Perceived Stress Scale, Locus of Control Scale, and Subjective Well-Being Inventory. Spearman's Rank Correlation coefficient assessed the association between personality and psychological distress. Kruskal-Wallis test with post hoc analysis studied the relative impact of the Personality Type on psychological distress.

Among 40 participants, 21 people had Type AD personality, 8 people had Type A personality, and 11 people had Type D personality. It was found that people who have a combination of Type A and Type D personality characteristics (Type AD personality) have more psychological distress than those having Type A or Type D personality alone, thereby demonstrating the relative impact of Type AD personality on psychological distress.

The study shows the interrelation between personality and cardiac event and delineates the importance of considering the psychological distress as a major risk factor for CAD, especially after coronary angioplasty.