Sensitization of emotions as a risk factor for ischemic heart disease

Previous studies showed that sensitization could be important in cardiovascular disease subjects. The main aim of our study was to investigate further the relationship between sensitization of emotion on one side, and main risk factors for ischemic heart disease (IHD) and some psychological variables on the other.

A total of 374 patients with (187) or without (187) ischemic heart disease took part in our study. Owing to the lower percentage of women with IHD only men were included in the study. Patients were divided into three groups: repressors (those who report low subjective disturbance but react relatively strongly objectively; psychometrically, they have a high defensiveness score - L-EPQ and low trait anxiety score - EPQ-N), sensitizers (they have the opposite results: high N and low L score) and all the remaining subjects (the remaining two combinations of the N and L scores). Altogether, 12 exploratory variables (presence of IHD and main IHD risk factors; personality traits and coping styles) were explored in relation to sensitization of emotion.

As predicted, sensitization of emotion was significantly more frequent in the group of patients with IHD (chi2=23.2; df=2; p<0.0001). We also showed some additional correlates of sensitization trait that could explain the association between this trait and IHD more in detail. In the group of IHD patients, the highest scores of psychoticism (F=12.14; df=2; p<0.001) and emotional coping styles (F=19.36; df=2; p<0.001) were shown in sensitizers, and the highest scores of detached emotional coping styles in the middle group of patients (F=7.58; df=2; p=0.001). Also, sensitizers were the youngest group (F=8.28; df=2; p<0.001) and had the highest frequency of smoking history (chi2=6.73; df=2; p=0.035). Some of these associations were in the same direction also significant in the group free of IHD, namely for psychoticism (F=9.15; df=2; p<0.001), emotional coping (F=11.07; df=2; p<0.001) and age (F=5.83; df=2; p=0.004).

Among some other characteristics, sensitization of emotion also relates to more emotional and less detached ways of coping with stress, and more smoking on the other, which in turn increases the overall behavioral risk of developing this chronic disease.