The research involved secondary data analysis with a large sample of individuals surveyed through the Center for Health Care Evaluation at the Stanford University Medical School. The sample included individuals between the ages of 55 and 65 who had used medical services in two large medical centers. Extensive psychosocial and physical health data were available from mail-out inventories at three points in time over a four- year period. Of eligible respondents contacts, 92 percent agreed to participate in the initial survey, and 89 percent (1884) of them provided complete data. Participation in one-year and four-year follow-ups approached 90 percent of surviving respondents from the previous survey. At the initial testing, 411 respondents (22 percent) reported diagnosed cardiac illness (excluding stroke and hypertension), 83 respondents (5 percent) reported diagnosed strokes, and 593 respondents (31 percent) reported diagnosed hypertension.