Validation Of Type A Behaviour Questionnaire In Relation To Social Class And Coronary Artery Disease : The Indian Rating Scale For Type A Behaviour

Abstract

This study was conduc4ed to validate the questionnaire for assessment of type A behaviour and to determine its relation with socioeconomic status and coronary artery disease(CAD) in a randomly selected urban population. We studied 1806 subjects (904 men and 902 women) aged 25-64 years. The survey instruments were questionnaire: modified from existing questionnaires (Likeret scale, Jenkins activity survey and Friedman and Rosenman structured interview questionnaires). The questionnaire for assessment of type A behaviour was administered by a psychologist and subjects were divided into type A behaviour (n=306), possible type A behaviour (n=157) or no such behaviour (n=1343) according to rating of their type A behaviour based on scores of various attributes such as hostility, aggressiveness, ambitiousness, competitiveness and pace or time urgency. The prevalence of type A behaviour was significantly greater among men compared to women (21.9 vs 11.9%, p<0.01). The overall prevalence of type A and possible type A behavior was also significantly higher in men than women (32.4 vs 18.8%, p<0.01) and the overall prevalence of total behaviour abnormality was 25.6% in both sexes. Type A behaviour was highly prevalent among social class 1 and 2 subjects in both sexes and showed significant association with CAD. The findings indicate that type A behaviour assessed by scores constructed based on various attributes of behaviour is accurate and the personality rating scale validated by us may be used successfully in other population groups of India.