Psychological correlates of progression of atherosclerosis in men

Patients who underwent repetitive coronary angiograms at an average interval of 17 months completed the Jenkins Activity Survey (n = 66) and were given the Rosenman diagnostic interview to measure Type A behavior (n = 45). Significant progression of coronary artery disease was judged to be an increase in occlusion of 25% or more, or progression to total occlusion in any vessel. At subsequent study, 30% of the patients showed evidence of progression. Progression was much more likely in patients with initially more severe disease and was marginally related to cigarette smoking when initial level of disease was controlled. Interview assessment of Type A did not discriminate reliably between the groups in the smaller sample of patients given this measure. There was significant positive association between magnitude of Activity Survey Type A scores and progression of disease, although mean scores on the Type A scale were not reliably different between the Progression and No Progression groups. The pattern of results suggested that extreme Type B subjects (classified by Activity Survey) were unlikely to show progression over this time period.