[Stress management in heart diseases, obesity, nicotine and alcohol use]

Abstract

Introduction: Heart diseases, obesity, nicotine and alcohol abuse are all relevant stroke risk factors. Some studies refer to stress stimuli and coping strategies as modulators for stroke risk factors.

Aim: This study investigated differences between stroke prevention patients with heart complaints, obesity, nicotine or alcohol abuse and stroke prevention patients without these risk factors.

Method: 5993 stroke prevention patients participated in a medical-psychological stroke risk investigation at the Christian Doppler Clinic in Salzburg. The differences in coping strategies between groups of patients with risk factors and groups without were investigated by means of multivariate analysis of covariance.

Results: Significant differences in stress coping were found for every risk factor (split by sex). Men suffering from heart diseases showed higher values in the coping strategy tendency to flee. Women with heart complaints demonstrated significantly lower values in minimising by comparison. Obese/adipose patients performed significantly higher values in the coping strategies vicarious satisfaction and aggression (men). Nicotine abusing prevention patients showed significantly higher values in drug intake and lower scores in continued thoughts. Non-smoking men furthermore reached higher values in vicarious satisfaction and non-smoking women in minimising. Persons not consuming alcohol demonstrated higher drug intake and aggression (men). Wine drinkers showed lower scores of self-pity and increased situation control attempts (women).

Conclusion: Prevention patients with risk factors demonstrated significant differences in coping strategies in comparison to those without risk factors. Persons with heart diseases demonstrate a more defensive behaviour. The risk factors obesity, nicotine and alcohol consumption are associated with a risk factor supporting stress coping behaviour. The modification of the coping strategies drug intake and vicarious satisfaction towards a more active confrontation could probably influence various risk factors (nicotine, alcohol consumption, obesity) simultaneously.