RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH CORONARY HEART DISEASE: AN ANALYSIS OF WHAT PREDICTS THE MOST?

Abstract

Objective: identify the most contributing group of risk factors associated withCHD. Methodology: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted fromMarch 2014 to May 2015 at Cardiology Centre Multan. Various risk factors weregrouped and studied in major six categories at one time to identify the mostcontributing risk factors in progression of CHD. The major risk factors werecategorized into six groups; individual, psychosocial, dispositional, life-style,acute and chronic stressors and work-related risk factors. Data was collected ona booklet comprising measures of all risk factors rated on continuous andcategorical variables. Results: About 204 male patients were included. Findings from regressionanalysis demonstrated that age (B=0.11, p<.05), depression (B=0.27,p<.001), anxiety (B=0.20, p <0.01), stress (B = 0.13, p < .05), low socialsupport (B=0.23, p<.01), Type A behavior (B=0.17, p .05), and work-relatedstress (B=0.27, p<.01) were the major predictors of CHD. However, the groupof psychosocial risk factors was identified as the most leading predictor (R 31,p>.01) as whole for CHD than the other groups of risk factors. Conclusion: Findings indicated that individual risk factors depression, anxiety,stress, low social support, Type A behavior, and work-related stressors are themajor risk factors to CHD. Key Words: Coronary Heart Disease, Psychosocial Risk Factors, Type ABehavior, Life-style Patterns.