Should We Intervene to Modify Type A Behaviours in Patients with Manifest Heart Disease?

Efficacy of cardiac rehabilitation 2: Smoking and behaviour modification

The first part of this article (Vol 6(12): 697-702) critically reviewed the research on the acclaimed beneficial effects of a number of cardiac rehabilitation programmes including exercise, stress management and educational interventions. This article will examine empirical studies on the efficacy of smoking cessation and type A behavioural modification programmes. Lamentably, few studies have been conducted on the efficacy of smoking cessation. Caution is indicated when establishing conclusions from studies on type A behaviour given the conceptual problems of this construct, i.e. its inability to consistently predict coronary heart disease, evidence of confusion surrounding the improper use of the psychometric measures and the neglect of salient psychosocial baseline variables. A number of clinical implications and future directions for research are indicated.