VALIDITY OF A PERSONALITY QUESTIONNAIRE D ESIGNED FOR DEFINING SUBGROUPS AT RISK OF CORONARY HEART-DISEASE OR CANCER IN THE GAZEL COHORT

Within the context of a prospective survey project among 20 000 volunt eers working for << Electricite de France - Gaz de France >> Company ( GAZEL cohort), we performed a feasibility study using four self-assess ment questionnaires: the Jenkins Activity Survey (measuring type A beh aviour pattern), the Buss and Durkee Hostility Inventory, the Center f or Epidemiologic Studies - Depression Scale and a personality question naire developed by Grossarth-Maticek and Eysenck (GME). Questionnaires were sent twice by mail, at an interval of three months, to a ramdom sample of 408 males: 71 % returned the filled forms the first time, 66 % the second time, and 80 % at least once. The test-retest correlatio n coefficients ranged from 0.62 to 0.87. The validity of the six perso nality type scores, calculated from GME, was tested by correlations wi th the scores of the three other instruments. These correlations appea red consistent with the proposed typology, especially for the << Healt hy >> type, the << Cancer prone >> type and the << Coronary Heart Dise ase prone >> type. The labelling of these types was justified by their association with different disease events, suggested from previous st udies.