Sixty nondiabetic coronary artery disease (CAD) patients submitted to
coronary angiography were asked to rate (score 0 to 20) pain intensity
(RPI) during their last major anginal episode having occurred prior to
coronary angiography. This parameter was examined in relation to other
variables of CAD and to psychological features. Stepwise regression
analysis revealed that RPI was not related to New York Heart Association
(NYHA) classification of angina or to angiographic variables. Yet, RPI
was found to be significantly affected by psychological features: higher
RPI scores were reported by low state anxiety patients (P=0.008), by
Type A coronary-prone behavior patients (P=0.02) and by patients with
high depression (P=0.03). (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All
rights reserved
