Type A behaviour: not specifically pathogenic?

99 patients who underwent coronary arteriography for the investigation of chest pain were interviewed by the use of the Bortner type A questionnaire. The 26 men with normal and minimally diseased arteries had significantly higher mean type A scores than the 41 men with important coronary occlusions. Socioeconomic class had a large influence on the type A score in men, but not in women. There was no significant association between type A score and the extent of coronary disease. These findings do not support a specific association between type A behaviour and coronary heart disease. They also question the value of the use of type A and coronary-prone behaviour as interchangeable terms.