Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is associated with a near doubling of the risk of adverse outcomes following myocardial infarction (MI), a Dutch naturalised cohort study has found. A total of 438 patients were recruited following an MI. At three months follow-up, ICD-10 GAD and ICD-10 depressive episode were identified using a standardised diagnostic interview (Composite International Diagnostic Interview). Participants were then followed up over an average of 5.7 years. An adverse outcome was defined as death from any cause or readmission with a cardiovascular event. After adjustment for age and gender, the hazard ratio for adverse events was 1.94 for those with GAD (95% CI: 1.14-3.30). Additional adjustment for depression and severity of cardiac disease did not affect the results.