Modifying Effect of Outdoor Recreational Activity on the Association Between Anger Expression and Cardiovascular Disease Risk: The Circulatory Risk in Communities Study

Abstract

Objective 

Outdoor recreational activity (ORA) has been suggested as a practical strategy for anger management to moderate the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, there is a lack of evidence pertaining to this topic. Our aim was to examine whether ORA modified the association between anger expression and the risk of CVD.

Methods 

A community-based cohort study was conducted among 1877 Japanese individuals aged 40 to 79 years at baseline in 1997. The anger expression was measured using the Spielberger Anger Expression Scale. Stratified into low and high ORA (0 and ≥1 of the four behaviors), a Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess the anger expression–related risk of incident CVD (ischemic heart disease and stroke).

Results 

We identified 76 incident CVDs during a median follow-up of 18.8 years. Among participants with low ORA, anger expression was associated with an increased risk of CVD, whereas no association was identified among those with high ORA. The standardized hazard ratios were 1.53 (95% confidence interval, 1.23–1.91) and 0.77 (0.51–1.15) among those with low and high ORA, respectively (p for interaction = .004). Similar associations were observed regarding the risk of total and ischemic stroke, and ischemic CVD.

Conclusions 

We found an elevated risk of CVD associated with anger expression among participants with low ORA but not among those with high ORA, suggesting that ORA use may mitigate the association between anger expression and CVD risk.