Association between neuroticism and risk of incident cardiovascular disease in UK Biobank cohort

Myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke are the major causes of cardiovascular related morbidities and mortalities around the world. The prevalence of cardiovascular diseases has been increased in last decades and it is vital need of time to investigate this global problem with focus on risk population stratification. The aim of the present study is to investigate the association between individualized personality trait that is neuroticism and risk of MI and stroke has been investigated in a large population-based cohort of UK biobank.375,713 individuals (mean age: 56.24 ± 8.06) were investigated in this longitudinal study and were followed up for seven years to assess the association between neuroticism and risk of MI and stroke incidence. The neuroticism score was assessed by a 12-item questionnaire at baseline, while information related to MI and stroke events was either collected from hospital records and death registries or was self-reported by the participants. Cox proportional hazard regression adjusted for age, gender, BMI, socioeconomic status, lifestyle factors and medical histories for hypertension, diabetes and depression was used. All statistical analyses were performed using R software. In fully adjusted model, a one standard deviation increase in neuroticism score was associated with 1.05-fold increased risk for MI. (HR=1.047(1.009-1.087), p=0.015). However, no significant association was observed between neuroticism score and incident stroke as well as between neuroticism score and overall cardiovascular disease (MI and stroke combined). Results from the present study indicate that neuroticism is a risk factor for MI but not for stroke. These findings suggest that personality traits such as neuroticism may prove to be helpful in efficient risk stratification and pre-clinical diagnosis of individuals at risk for MI