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A correction to the article "Insulin resistance in young, lean male subjects with essential hypertension" is presented.

Purpose: Increased levels of hostility are associated with the increased risk of coronary artery disease (CAD), and with poorer outcomes in CAD patients. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the level of hostility in CAD patients and in health care (HC) workers, as potential groups for intervention programmes., Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative cross-sectional study was undertaken. Hostility questionnaires were distributed in a non-randomized fashion in a group of 236 CAD patients (187 men, 49 women), aged from 33 to 69 years (average 52 years) and 181 health care workers (52 men, 129 women), aged from 19 to 65 (average 31 years). The results of the survey were discussed in a focused group., Findings: The results showed that the high level of hostility in both CAD patients and HC workers exceeded the risk value of 10 in 89 per cent of CAD patients and 95 per cent of HC workers. No difference was found in the hostility scores between CAD patients and HC workers. There was a tendency to higher scores of hostility or of its subcategories (cynicism, anger, aggression) in physicians and nurses of the invasive cardiology or the intensive care units., Originality/value: This paper is of value by showing how increased level of hostility was the issue in both patients and HC workers, with potential consequences of health risk for individuals, as well as deteriorated interpersonal relations and a conflict-generated corporate culture for organizations. Differently tailored programmes for hostility management for particular target groups may help to prevent negative developments.

Contradicting data are available on stress responsiveness in subjects with high anxiety. In the present study we tested the hypothesis that high trait anxiety is associated with impaired coordination of the stress response, rather than global hypo- or hyper-responsiveness. The sample consisted of subjects with high (n=15) and with low (n=12) trait anxiety. Subjects with middle-range levels of anxiety were excluded from the study. After psychological characterization, the volunteers were exposed to a public speech procedure. A spectrum of neuroendocrine parameters was measured before, during and after the procedure and the results were analyzed by exploratory statistics. Psychological characterization of subjects revealed a lower preference for task-oriented but a higher one for emotion-oriented coping strategies as well as lower scores on hardiness in subjects with high trait anxiety. After the speech procedure, differences in selected mood and personality characteristics were observed, with the anxious group scoring significantly higher in scales for stress, tiredness, arousal, anxiety and depression. Factor analysis revealed that one common factor grouped blood pressure, catecholamine concentrations in blood and heart rate in non-anxious subjects, while three distinct factors separated these parameters in anxious subjects. Correlation analysis in anxious subjects showed that lower adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and cortisol responses during stress were associated with exaggerated perception of stress and worse mental performance. Our findings indicate that subjects with high anxiety have different relationships between specific neuroendocrine parameters, subjective perception of stress and Stroop test performance.