EVALUATION OF THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE AGE AT ONSET OF HYPERTENSION AND DIFFERENT AFFECTIVE TEMPERAMENTS

Abstract

Objective: The age, when hypertension is initiated is influenced by different factors, but the role of personality traits in this regard is not clarified yet. Affective temperaments (depressive, cyclothymic, anxious, irritable and hyperthymic); which manifest early and are relatively stable in adulthood, have been associated with blood pressure and arterial stiffness. Our aim was to study the possible association between affective temperaments and the age at onset of hypertension. Design and method: In this cross-sectional study 357 patients were included (302 and 55 with chronic and new hypertension, respectively). After the evaluation of history, patients completed the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A). Predictors of the age at onset of hypertension and that of the early onset (under the age of 40) were studied. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 60.7 (±12) years. The independent predictors of the age at onset of hypertension were male sex (B = 4.67, 95%CI = 1.44–7.9 p = 0.005), smoking (B = -4.62, 95%CI = -7.77--1.46 p = 0.004) and positive family history (B = -6.94, 95%CI = -10.41--3.48, p < 0.001). High cyclothymic affective temperament score tended to be an independent predictor, however, the association was not significant (B = -0.48, 95%CI = -1.07–0.11, p = 0.110). When the subgroup of patients with early onset hypertension was studied (n = 73), male sex, smoking and positive family history remained independent predictors, however cyclothymic temperament score lost its predictive power (B = 0.010, p = 0.86). Conclusions: Besides traditional factors, cyclothymic affective temperament might contribute to the initiation of hypertension, but not in the early decades of life.