How many sphygmomanometric cuff inflations are necessary to obtain a hemodynamic baseline?

The purpose of this study was to determine the minimum number of consecutive blood pressure cuff inflations required to obtain seated stable resting baseline measurements of heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and mean arterial pressure (MAP). Sixty male college students aged 18 to 31 years volunteered as study subjects. Thirteen observations of HR, SBP, DBP, and MAP were recorded at 90-second intervals for each subject using a Critikon-Dinamap monitor.

Speech rate, loudness, and cardiovascular reactivity.

This paper reports the results of two studies that investigated the relationship between speech rate, loudness, and cardiovascular reactivity (CVR). One study involved the separate manipulation of speech rate and loudness and assessed its effects on CVR during a routine reading task. The second study involved the simultaneous manipulation of both loudness and speech rate and studied its effects on CVR within the context of a personal interview.

Gender differences in cardiovascular reactivity.

Pronounced cardiovascular reactivity to stress is a behavioral mechanism that may underlie the pathophysiology of coronary heart disease (CHD). Based on the greater incidence of CHD among males than among females, the purpose of the current investigation was to test the hypothesis that in young adults (ages 17-29), males (n = 47) show more cardiovascular reactivity than females (n = 61) to two stressors, a video game and cigarette smoking. Five of the six comparisons did not support the hypothesis: females were higher on heart rate and diastolic blood pressure reactivity to both stressors; males were higher on systolic blood pressure reactivity to the video game only.

Aerobic fitness, psychological characteristics, and cardiovascular reactivity to stress.

Examined the relations among aerobic fitness (AF), psychological characteristics, and cardiovascular reactivity using 62 men divided into highly fit and less fit groups based on a maximal treadmill exercise test. Several psychological and physiological variables were measured, and subjects' cardiovascular reactivity was assessed during a mental arithmetic task and during a video game task. Highly fit subjects showed a significantly smaller increase in both diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and heart rate (HR) and reported themselves to be less anxious and less angry than less fit subjects.

Components of hostility as predictors of sudden death and myocardial infarction in the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial.

We tested the hypothesis that hostility is associated with increased relative risk (RR) for coronary death and nonfatal myocardial infarction among participants in the prospective Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT). Cases (N = 192) were compared with matched controls (N = 384) on a variety of behavioral characteristics associated with the Type A behavior pattern (TABP), including three different but interrelated components of hostility. Logistic regression analyses revealed that only two of the eight TABP attributes analyzed on the overall sample were significant.