Your outlook on life may affect the health of your heart, say researchers who've found people with a positive attitude enjoy measurably better cardiovascular health.

In a study involving 5,100 participants, the researchers analyzed survey results from people aged 45 through 85 on their mental health, levels of optimism and physical health.

Their total health scores, based upon self-reported existing medical diagnoses of arthritis, kidney and liver disease, were found to increase along with their levels of optimism, the researchers report in the journal Health Behavior and Policy Review.

Heart health was measured in terms of blood pressure, blood sugar levels, body mass index, serum cholesterol levels, physical activity and dietary intake.

The American Heart Association uses those same metrics to create a definition of heart health.

Points were assigned to each to yield a health score of poor, intermediate or ideal.

"Individuals with the highest levels of optimism have twice the odds of being in ideal cardiovascular health compared to their more pessimistic counterparts," says lead study author Rosalba Hernandez, a University of Illinois professor of social work. 

People who were considered the most optimistic based on their survey responses were 50 percent more likely to record an overall health score in the intermediate range and 76 percent more likely to have a total score in the ideal range, the researchers found.

"At the population level, even this moderate difference in cardiovascular health translates into a significant reduction in death rates," Hernandez says.

The sample for the study, believed the first to look at links between optimism and heart health in a large, racially and ethnically diverse population, was 38 percent white, 28 percent African-American, 22 percent Hispanic/Latino and 12 percent Chinese.

The association between optimistic outlook and cardiovascular health remains "significant, even after adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics and poor mental health," Hernandez says.

"This evidence, which is hypothesized to occur through a biobehavioral mechanism, suggests that prevention strategies that target modification of psychological well-being -- e.g., optimism -- may be a potential avenue for [the American Hearth Association] to reach its goal of improving Americans' cardiovascular health by 20 percent before 2020," she says.

The National Center for Research Resources and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute provided funding for the study.