Pessimism (Negative Thinking) was found to increase the chances of death in heart patients, study suggests
-Recent research, conducted by University of Finland, analysed data of 2,267 men and women suffering from coronary heart disease (CHD) aged between 52-67 years.
-The participants were made to perform a Life Orientation Test (LOT-R) to evaluate the pessimism (negative thinking) and optimism (positive thinking) levels and a follow-up was performed for an average of 11 years.
-Patients who died due to CHD during the same time span were found to have high pessimism levels.
-On comparing the cohorts of patients, it was observed that CHD patients with the highest quartile of pessimism were at twofold risk of dying compared to the others.
-Findings were published in BMC Public Health
Source: BMC Public Health