PERSONALITY-TRAITS AND SYMPTOM PERSISTENC E IN PATIENTS WITH CHEST PAIN AND ANGIOGRAPHICALLY NORMAL CORONARY-ARTERIES

Although several studies have found a high rate of persisting symptoms in patients with chest pain and normal coronary arteries (NCA), attem pts to predict individual outcome remained little successful. The day before coronary angiography we interviewed 68 patients with suspected coronary heart disease (CHD) by means of the Freiburg Personality Inve ntory (FPI) and a body perception scale by Stuauss and Appelt. After 2 4 +/- 3 months 55 of the 64 surviving patients (85.9%) completed anoth er set of questionnaires (Giessen Symptom Checklist (GBB); Hospital An xiety and Depression Scale (HADS); adhoc items asking for the course o f illness). The 24 NCA patients showed higher means than the 31 CHD pa tients on 55 of the 57 GBB items (p < .00005) and tended to score high er on all GBB and HADS subscales. In patients with NCA, but not in tho se with CHD, stepwise multiple regression including all initially reco rded psychological and cardiological variables predicted FPI scales '' somatic complaints'' (beta = .90), ''openness'' (beta = -.55), and ''a chievement striving'' (beta = -.28). The former two FPI scales also pr edicted cardiac disability with an R-2 = .58 (p < .001). While persona lity factors also predicted most of the remaining endpoints in NCA pat ients, there was no important contribution of somatic measures (exerci se test results, ejection fraction, coronary risk factors) to the regr ession models. In conclusion, 2 years after coronary angiography patie nts with NCA tend to report more symptoms than regularly treated CHD p atients. Symptom persistence is predicted by personality traits but no t by somatic measures.