Hostility, Anger and Risk of Coronary Artery Atherosclerosis

The previous researches about the etiology of coronary artery atherosclerosis have accentuated on clinical and medical risk factors, such as cigarette smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, positive family background, myocardial ischemia history in family, atherogenic diet, increase of A lipoprotein, inflammatory factors such as increase of cross-reactive protein and so on. Although factors in behavioral medicine are recognized as an independent risk factor in coronary artery atherosclerosis, few researches have been done on hostility and anger. The aim of this study was to determine the difference between normal people(Control group) and people with coronary artery atherosclerosis(Case group) with regards to hostility and anger. This study was performed as a case-control design. Data was collected from seventy-seven patients with coronary artery atherosclerosis who had referred to Afshar Hospital Professional Heart Clinic in Yazd city and seventy-eight normal people were used as control. Two groups completed the Buss and Perry Aggression Questionnaire(BPAQ) to measure their hostility and anger. The results of the analysis showed that there was a statistically significant difference regarding hostility(p<.05) and anger(p<.001) between the two groups. Hierarchical multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the sociodemographic and clinical variables(step 1) explained 35.5 % to 47.4%, while hostility and anger(step 2) explained 6.7% to 9% of the variance in incidence of coronary artery atherosclerosis. Hostility and anger are strong risk factors for coronary artery atherosclerosis or CAD in Iran. Therefore, in order to decrease the incidence rate of coronary artery atherosclerosis in Iran, alongside medical interventions, attention should also be paid towards behavioral interventions in order to modify hostile and angrily behavior.