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This paper is devoted to the study of the relation between smoking habits and psychosocio-biological variables among subjects participating in the Belgian Heart Disease Prevention Project. During a base-line examination, male subjects, aged 40-59 yr, answered to medical, social and psychological questionnaires. Stepwise discriminant analyses between cigarette smokers and non-smokers showed that the former are older, more obese, have a higher mean serum cholesterol, are more frequently located in the northern part of Belgium, have a lower study level, are less type 'A' and more extravert and neurotic. Seven factors independently discriminate smokers from ex-smokers: the latter are older, more obese, more often married, located in the southern part of Belgium; they have a higher study level, are more type 'A' but less extravert. Few factors differentiate ex-smokers from non-smokers: the former are older, more neurotic, have a higher mean serum cholesterol and a greater tendency to answer with social conformity (on the lie-score). The authors hypothesize that between the cigarette smokers there is a sub-group of subjects who are psycho-socially very close to non-smokers, giving them a greater opportunity to become ex-smokers. This hypothesis is tested on a prospective basis among the subjects of the Belgian Heart Disease Prevention Project., Journal Article, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

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Two methods developed in U.S.A. for measuring the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern--the Structured Interview and the self-administered Activity Survey, were translated into French and Flemish and utilized in a large preventive cardiology study in Belgium. The distribution of behavior-type judgments made by trained interviewers were compared to similar data from North America and found to be similarly symmetrical but clustering more toward central categories in Belgium. The Activity Survey, when scored by the scoring key developed in California, yielded averages for this Belgian group which appeared to be more in the Type B direction than the California sample, particularly in terms of Job-Involvement and tendencies toward haste and impatience. The Activity Survey scales and Structured Interview judgments showed a strong correspondence, with a 70% agreement observed between the Interview and Type A scores. This comparability between findings in Belgium and U.S.A. suggests that the concept of the Type A behavior pattern has sufficient cross-cultural validity to permit the derivation of reliable measurements and to make feasible the determination of whether Type A behavior is a risk factor for coronary disease internationally., Clinical Trial, Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial, SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

In order to define the Rosenman and Friedman type A pattern three technics where used: the Bortner scale, the Jenkins Acitivity Survey (J.A.S.) and the interview. These are part of the base-line data recorded during the screening of a belgian male population aged 40 to 59 at entry of a controlled trial for the multifactorial prevention of cardiovascular diseases. The J.A.S. and the Bortner scale are evaluated in relation to the interview. Extremes of type A and B are less prevalent in our study compared to the Western Collaborative Group Study. Both the J.A.S. and the Bortner scale are very satisfactory in predicting type A and B pattern. The Bortner scale predicts the pattern in 78% of the subjects, by the method of weighted scores. The validation of this classification method, on a second sample, gives an accurate classification in 75% of the subjects. The J.A.S. predicts, the pattern in relation to the interview in 78% of the subjects; again the validation of the classification method, on a second sample, gives a correct classification in 70% of the subjects., Comparative Study, English Abstract, Journal Article, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

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In a group of middle-aged men exhibiting the type A or B behavior pattern described by Rosenman and Friedman, the excretion of urinary catecholamines and their metabolites has been studied during a working-day period. Simultaneously, heart rate and heart rhythm were analyzed using continuous ECG recordings. No significant differences were observed between subjects classified as type A and those classified as type B, neither in the excretion of catecholamines, in their heart rate profile, nor in the prevalence of arrhythmias. These observations are discussed and compared with data from the literature. © 1979., Journal Article, SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

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info:eu-repo/semantics/published

This paper deals with the study of the relation between psycho-socio-biological factors and moderate overweight of subjects participating to the Belgian Heart Disease Prevention Project. The 8284 male subjects of the trial, working in 30 Belgian Flemish or French-speaking factories, aged 40-59 yr, were medically screened and asked to answer medical, social and psychological questionnaires. Base-line data are here analysed in regard to relative weight (mean relative weight and tertiles of relative weight). Stepwise discriminant analyses between tertile III and tertile I introducing psychological, social and bioclinical variables, showed that the 'obese' subjects (tertile III) are less frequently cigarette smokers, are less neurotic, are of a lower occupational class, are more frequently living in Wallonia (south of Belgium) and are more extravert compared to the 'lean' subjects (tertile I). Moreover, prospective studies are further needed to determine the causal or sequential effects on moderate overweight of the two psychological factors: neuroticism and extraversion. © 1978., Clinical Trial, Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial, SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

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