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Published on: June 5, 2019
Cardiovascular diseases, risk factors and short-term heart rate variability in an elderly general population: the
Karin Halina Greiser1, Alexander Kluttig, Barbara Schumann
1Institute of Medical Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Informatics, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Saale, Germany. Halina.greiser@medizin.uni-halle.de
Insights
Reduced heart rate variability (HRV) shows weak links to cardiovascular disease risk factors. While age is a strong factor, HRV may indicate ill health or mediate risk factor effects on heart disease.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Preventive Medicine
- Biostatistics
Background:
- Reduced heart rate variability (HRV) is linked to poor prognosis, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and mortality.
- Existing data on HRV's association with CVD risk factors and its role as a mediator is conflicting and lacks population-based evidence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between heart rate variability (HRV) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in a population-based cohort.
- To explore HRV's potential role as an independent cause or mediator of CVD risk.
Main Methods:
- Utilized cross-sectional data from 1,779 individuals (aged 45-83).
- Analyzed time and frequency domain measures of HRV from 5-min ECG segments.
- Examined associations with age, behavioral, and biomedical risk factors in the general sample and a "healthy" subgroup.
Main Results:
- Age showed an inverse association with all HRV measures.
- No significant association was found between physical activity, smoking, or alcohol consumption and HRV.
- Triglycerides, glucose, waist-to-hip ratio, and diabetes were inversely associated with HRV in both sexes; cholesterol and hypertension showed associations in men only.
- Associations were attenuated after multivariable adjustment and in the "healthy" subgroup.
Conclusions:
- Found weak and inconsistent associations between HRV and cardiovascular risk factors.
- Results support the hypothesis that short-term HRV may serve as a marker of ill health or mediate the impact of certain biomedical risk factors on CVD.
Background:
A reduced heart rate variability (HRV) is associated with worse prognosis, increased incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality. There are conflicting results and a lack of population-based data regarding the association of HRV with CVD risk factors and its potential role as independent cause or mediator of CVD risk.
Methods:
Cross-sectional data of a population-based cohort including 1,779 women and men aged 45-83 years were used to analyse associations of time and frequency domain measures of HRV (derived from 5-min ECG segments) with age, behavioural and biomedical risk factors and disease in the whole sample and in a "healthy" subgroup.
Results:
Age was inversely associated with all measures of HRV (mean standard deviation of normal intervals across 10-year age-groups 32.1, 26.9, 27.1 and 24.8 ms in women, 29.3, 25.9, 23.8 and 25.7 ms in men). There was no association of physical activity, current smoking or alcohol with HRV. In age-adjusted models, triglycerides, glucose, waist-to-hip ratio and diabetes were inversely associated with HRV in men and women, and low/high density cholesterol and hypertension in men only (up to 43% difference across risk factor quartiles). Multivariable adjustment and restriction to the "healthy" subgroup attenuated the associations.
Conclusions:
We found only weak and inconsistent associations of HRV with cardiovascular risk factors. However, these results as well as those from previous studies are still compatible with the hypothesis that short-term HRV may be a marker of ill health or a mediator of the effect of selected biomedical risk factors on CVD.
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