Abstract
Previous studies of patients with angiographically documented coronary artery disease (CAD) have suggested that the Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP) and/or components of Type A (i.e., Potential for Hostility, Anger-in) and/or Cook-Medley hostility scores were related to severity of CAD. This study examined these variables alone, in combination, and as a function of age in a sample of 289 men who have undergone coronary angiography at the Duke University Medical Center. Assessment of the Structured Interview (SI) for global TABP, and TABP components was done blind to disease endpoints. Analysis of all main and interaction effects were performed using ordinal logistic regression. Results indicated that only the interaction of SI components of Potential for Hostility and Anger-in significantly predicted disease severity. Post-hoc analyses revealed that only individuals that were rated high on Potential for Hostility and also reported that others could not tell when they were angry or upset were at the highest risk for CAD. The relationship between behavior and severity of CAD did not appear to occur as a function of age.