TUESDAY, Sept. 17, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Personality traits can influence cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), according to a study published online Sept. 10 in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care.

Chan Soon Park, from Seoul National University Hospital in South Korea, and colleagues used data from 8,794 patients with T2DM participating in the U.K. Biobank (2006 to 2010 with follow-up through 2021) to understand the prognostic value of personality (sociability, warmth, diligence, curiosity, and nervousness) and its association with lifestyle factors.

The researchers found that during a median of 13.6 years of follow-up, diligence was significantly associated with a reduced risk for incident CVD. A trend toward lower incidence was seen for the composite outcome (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.93), as well as individual components: myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure. For both high and low diligence, healthy lifestyle behaviors significantly reduced the risk for composite CVDs in groups. A structural equation model showed that diligence directly affected the risk for the primary outcome or indirectly by modifying lifestyle behaviors.

“These findings highlight the importance of assessing personality traits for cardiovascular risk prediction and modifying lifestyle factors as preventive strategies for patients with T2DM,” the authors write.

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