Lessons from Roseto 20 years later: a community study of heart disease

The findings of a community study of coronary artery disease were reviewed retrospectively to highlight applications to current research and clinical practice. Roseto, Pennsylvania, an ethnically homogenous county, was studied in the 1960s by an interdisciplinary team of researchers. Twenty years later the findings are being confirmed in the studies of other investigators. The major finding was the importance of social support and close family ties in buffering the deleterious effects of stress and life change, factors which have been implicated in the occurrence of myocardial infarction and sudden death.