An Investigation into the Relationship between Coronary Risk Factors and Coronary Heart Disease among the Pietermaritzburg Asian Population

Abstract

Dutch

This study investigated the relationship between coronary heart disease and a number of established coronary risk factors among Indian males. Included were factors such as Type A behaviour pattern (sometimes referred to as the coronary-prone behaviour pattern). The study investigated whether the following coronary risk factors were able to distinguish those with myocardial infarction from controls: Type A behaviour pattern, stress levels, anger levels, diabetes, previous coronary heart disease, hypertension, obesity, family history of coronary heart disease, physical exercise, cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption. Statistical analysis indicated that none of the risk factors, except Type A behaviour pattern, were able to significantly distinguish the myocardial infarction group from controls.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Balfe

D.L.

Steinberg

W.J.

Kustner

H.G.V.

(1988). Comparison of the decline in ischaemic heart disease mortality rate in RSA with other Western countries. South African Medical Journal, 74, 551–553.

Bundy

(1989). Cardiac disorders. In Broome

A.K.

(Ed.), Health psychology: processes and applications (pp. 153–182). London: Chapman and Hall.

Byrne

D.G.

(1987a). Personality, life events and cardiovascular disease: life events and myocardial infarction revisited. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 31, 661–671.

Byrne

D.G.

(1987b). The behavioral management of the cardiac patient. Norwood: Ablex Publishing Corporation.

Dembroski

T.M.

Weiss

S.M.

Shields

J.L.

Haynes

S.G.

Feinleib

(Eds). (1978). Coronary-prone behavior. New York: Springer-Verlag.

Dembroski

T.M.

MacDougal

J.M.

Williams

R.B.

Haney

T.L.

Blumenthal

J.A.

(1985). Components of Type A, hostility, and anger in: relationship to angiographic findings. Psychosomatic Medicine, 47, 219–233.

Feuerstein

Labbe

E.E.

Kuczmierczyk

A.R.

(1986). Health psychology: a psychobiological perspective. New York: Plenum.

Fisher

(1986). Stress and strategy. London: Erlbaum.

Friedman

Rosenman

R.H.

(1974). Type A behavior and your heart. New York: Knopf.

10.

Glass

(1977). Behavior patterns, stress and coronary heart disease. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

11.

Glasunov

I.S.

Dowd

J.E.

Baubniene

Grabauskas

Sturmans

Schuurman

J.H.

(1981). The Kaunas-Rotterdam Intervention Study: behavioural and operational components on health intervention programmes. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

12.

Goldstein

H.S.

Edelberg

Meyer

C.F.

Davis

(1988). Relationships of resting blood pressure and heart rate to experienced anger and expressed anger. Psychosomatic Medicine, 50, 321–329.

13.

Hecker

M.H.L.

Chesney

M.A.

Black

G.W.

Frautschi

(1988). Coronary-prone behaviors in the Western Collaborative Group Study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 50, 153–164.

14.

Holmes

T.H.

Rahe

R.H.

(1967). The Social Readjustment Rating Scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11, 213–218.

15.

Jenkins

C.D.

(1988). Epidemiology of cardiovascular diseases. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 324–332.

16.

Jenkins

C.D.

Zyzanski

S.J.

Rosenman

R.H.

(1979). Jenkins activity survey manual. New York: Psychological Corporation.

17.

Krantz

D.S.

Contrada

Hill

D.R.

Friedler

(1988). Environmental stress and biobehavioral antecedents of coronary heart disease. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 333–341.

18.

Lazarus

R.S.

(1966). Psychological stress and the coping process. New York: McGraw-Hill.

19.

Nunes

E.V.

Frank

K.A.

Kornfeld

D.S.

(1987). Psychologic treatment for the Type A behavior pattern and for coronary heart disease: a meta-analysis of the literature. Psychosomatic Medicine, 48, 159–173.

20.

Powell

L.H.

Friedman

Thoresen

C.E.

Gill

J.J.

Ulmer

D.K.

(1984). Can the Type A behavior pattern be altered following myocardial infarction? A second year report from the Recurrent Coronary Prevention Project. Psychosomatic Medicine, 46, 293–314.

21.

Ray

J.J.

(1991). If A-B does not predict heart disease, why bother with it? A comment on Ivancevich & Matteson. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 64, 85–90.

22.

Rosenman

R.H.

Brand

R.J.

Jenkins

C.D.

Friedman

Straus

Wurm

(1975). Coronary heart disease in the Western Collaborative Groups Study: final follow-up of 8 1/2 years. Journal of American Medical Association, 233, 872–877.

23.

Rosenman

R.H.

Swan

G.E.

Carnelli

(1988). Some recent findings relative to the relationship of Type A behavior pattern to coronary heart disease. In Maes

Spielberger

C.D.

Defares

P.B.

Sarason

I.G.

(Eds), Topics in health psychology (pp. 21–29). New York: John Wiley and Sons.

24.

Sarason

I.G.

Johnson

J.H.

Siegal

J.M.

(1978). Assessing the impact of life changes: development of the life experiences survey. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 932–946.

25.

Seedat

Y.K.

Mayet

F.G.H.

Khan

Somers

S.R.

Joubert

(1990). Risk factors for coronary heart disease in the Indians of Durban. South African Medical Journal, 78, 447–454.

26.

Sewdarsen

Vythilingum

Jialal

Moodley

Mitha

R.S.

(1987). Risk factors in young Indian males with myocardial infarction. South African Medical Journal, 71, 261–262.

27.

Shekelle

R.B.

Shyrock

A.M.

Paul

P.O.

Lepper

Stamler

Lui

Raynor

W.J.

(1981). Diet, serum cholesterol, and death from coronary heart disease — The Western Electric Study. New England Journal of Medicine, 304, 65–70.

28.

Siegal

H.M.

Matthews

K.R.

Leitch

C.J.

(1983). Blood pressure variability and the Type A behavior pattern in adolescents. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 26, 393–402.

29.

Steyn

Fourie

Bradshaw

(1992). The impact of chronic diseases of lifestyle and their major risk factors on mortality in South Africa. South African Medical Journal, 82, 227–231.

30.

Strümpfer

(1993). An overview of Jenkins Activity Survey data in South Africa. South African Journal of Psychology, 23, 120–144.

31.

Taylor

S.P.

Epstein

Disler

P.B.

Wittaker

Rip

M.R.

Derry

C.W.

Sayed

E.R.

Bourne

D.E.

Klopper

J.M.L.

(1987). Variations in mortality of the coloured, white and Asian populations groups in the RSA, 1978–1982: Part IV — Ischaemic Heart Disease. South African Medical Journal, 72, 698–700.

32.

Walker

A.R.P.

(1980). The epidemiology of ischaemic heart disease in the different ethnic populations in Johannesburg. South African Medical Journal, 57, 748–752.

33.

Walker

A.R.P.

Adam

Kustner

H.G.V.

(1993). Changes in total death rate and in ischaemic heart disease death rate in interethnic South African populations, 1978–1989. South African Medical Journal, 83, 602–605.

34.

Walker

A.R.P.

Vorster

H.H.

(1988). Coronary heart disease avoidance — the dilemma. South African Medical Journal, 74, 482–484.