PROSPECTIVE-STUDY OF A SELF-REPORT TYPE-A SCALE AND RISK OF CORONARY HEART-DISEASE - TEST OF THE MMPI-2 TYPE-A SCALE

Background-Several methods exist by which to assess type A behavior (T AB). Although the videotaped clinical interview is regarded as the ''g old standard,'' self-report measures have also proved useful in assess ing TAB in large population studies. The purpose of this study was to examine prospectively the relationship of TAB to risk of coronary hear t disease (CHD) incidence with the use of the revised Minnesota Multip hasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) Type A Scale. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first test of this scale in the context of pred icting CHD incidence. Methods and Results-The study was performed in t he VA Normative Aging Study, an ongoing cohort of older (mean age, 61 years) community-dwelling men. A total of 1305 men who were free of di agnosed CHD in 1986 completed the MMPI-2 Type A Scale. During an avera ge 7.0 years of follow-up, 110 cases of incident CHD occurred. Compare d with men in the lowest quartile of type A scores, men in the highest quartile had multivariate adjusted relative risks of 2.86 (95% CI, 1. 19 to 6.89; P for trend=0.016) for combined CHD death and nonfatal myo cardial infarction (MI) and 2.30 (95% CI, 1.32 to 4.01; P for trend=0. 001) for combined CHD death/nonfatal MI plus angina pectoris. The rela tionship of TAB to CHD was independent of measures of anger and cynici sm. Conclusions-The MMPI-2 Type A Scale predicts CHD incidence. Furthe r research is warranted to examine the correlation, if any, between th is scale and the videotaped clinical interview.