Hostility and the progression of carotid atherosclerosis

We studied prospectively the association of hostility and anger suppression by the use of ultrasonographically assessed 2-year progression of carotid atherosclerosis (PCA) in a sample of 119 middle-aged men from eastern Finland. Based on measures of cynical distrust, impatience-irritability, anger-i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychosomatic medicine 1994-11, Vol.56 (6), p.519-525
Main Authors: Julkunen, J, Salonen, R, Kaplan, G A, Chesney, M A, Salonen, J T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Arteriosclerosis - diagnostic imaging
Arteriosclerosis - physiopathology
Arteriosclerosis - psychology
Carotid Arteries - diagnostic imaging
Carotid Arteries - physiopathology
Hostility
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Prospective Studies
Reproducibility of Results
Risk Factors
Ultrasonography
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Summary:We studied prospectively the association of hostility and anger suppression by the use of ultrasonographically assessed 2-year progression of carotid atherosclerosis (PCA) in a sample of 119 middle-aged men from eastern Finland. Based on measures of cynical distrust, impatience-irritability, anger-in, and anger-control, four variants of hostility-by-anger suppression model were tested with multiple regression analysis. In addition to the previously established risk factors (i.e., serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration, smoking, and old age), cynical distrust and anger-control significantly predicted PCA. There was about a two-fold accelerated PCA in the group with high cynical distrust and high anger-control even after we controlled for the established biological risk factors and possible confounding background variables. The impact of the independent variables on PCA seemed to be additive rather than synergistic. These results, based on a relatively small, but nonselected population sample, extend previous results of angiographic studies.
ISSN:0033-3174
DOI:10.1097/00006842-199411000-00007