Greater Cardiovascular Responses to Laboratory Mental Stress Are Associated With Poor Subsequent Cardiovascular Risk Status

An increasing number of studies has tested whether greater cardiovascular responses to acute mental stress predict future cardiovascular disease, but results have been variable. This review aimed quantitatively to evaluate the association between cardiovascular responses to laboratory mental stress and subsequent cardiovascular risk status in prospective cohort studies. We searched general bibliographic databases, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and PubMed, up to December 2009. Two reviewers independently extracted data on study characteristics, quality, and estimates of associations. There were 169 associations (36 articles) of stress reactivity and 30 associations (5 articles) of poststress recovery in relation to…