Impact of Pattern A behavior on ischemic heart disease when controlling for conventional risk indicators

The presence of Pattern A behavior was assessed by means of the Structured Interview in three groups of Swedish men, 50 with manifest ischemic heart disease (IHD), 50 with risk indicators for IHD and fifty healthy men. They were also examined for presence of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, obesity, impaired pulmonary function, smoking and alcohol consumption. The relative risk of having developed clinical IHD, associated with the presence of Pattern A behavior was found to be four times greater with than without such behavior. When conventional risk indicators were controlled for, by means of a multivariate confounder score, this relative risk was reduced to 2.7.