Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. In a review of 44 studies, those with increased anger and hostility had a 24% greater risk of heart disease in healthy subjects. This chart lists the average weight of some small and medium sized animals.
In a 2009 study (1), researchers analyzed 44 studies, 25 of which looked at the effect of anger and hostility in a population of 8, 120 subjects with heart disease and 19 studies in 71, 606 subjects initially without heart disease. In the heart disease population, they found those with increased anger and hostility increased their risk of heart disease by 19% (p = 0.08*) while in the initially healthy population, those with increased anger and hostility had a 24% increased risk (p = 0.002).
The survey shown to have the greatest prediction of anger and heart health was the Spielberger trait anger scale, a survey on 40 questions graded on a scale of 1 to 4 (2). Researchers found higher scores increased the risk of heart disease in the initially healthy population by 20% (p = 0.037) and the heart disease group by 21% (p = 0.026).
In addition, anger and hostility increased risk more significantly in initially healthy men (20% increased risk, p < 0.001.) with no significant effect on healthy women (7% increased risk, p = 0.77*). There was not enough data analyzing sex differences in the heart disease studies.
For the researchers, “anger and hostility are associated with heart disease outcomes both in healthy and heart disease populations”. They then cited a 2007 review showing successful use of psychological intervention on heart health (3) and eventually concluded “Besides conventional physical and pharmacological interventions, this supports the use of psychological management focusing on anger and hostility in the prevention and treatment of heart disease.”
*P values over 0.05% are not considered statistically significant
Source: Chida, Yoichi, and Andrew Steptoe. “The association of anger and hostility with future coronary heart disease: a meta-analytic review of prospective evidence.” Journal of the American college of cardiology 53.11 (2009): 936-946.
Posted February 19, 2015.
References:
- The Association of Anger and Hostility With Future Coronary Heart Disease. J Am Coll Cardiol 2009 Mar 17;53(11):936-46. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2008.11.044
- “State-Trait Anxiety Inventory” posted on Wikipedia
- Linden W, Phillips MJ, Leclerc J. Psychological treatment of cardiac patients: a meta-analysis. Eur Heart J 2007;28:2972– 84.
