Heart rate variability in patients with insomnia disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Though logical inference based on small studies suggests that patients with insomnia have a blunted heart rate variability (HRV), this condition not been clearly shown. This meta-analysis aimed to determine whether or not HRV was impaired in patients with insomnia.

We conducted a comprehensive literature search for studies that examined the association of HRV with insomnia disorder. HRV measures were extracted using the SDNN (time-domain measure, i.e., standard deviation of all NN intervals,) or the HF-norm (frequency-domain measure, i.e., high-frequency power normalized using total power). The effect size estimates of R_equivalent obtained from p values and sample size were synthesized.

We identified 17 studies with 921 participants. The pooled R_equivalent was 0.19 with 95% CI of 0.12 and 0.25 (p < 0.001), and there was no significant heterogeneity (I² = 0.0%, p = 0.809). A p value of 0.075 corresponding to the R_equivalent of 0.19 was obtained, suggesting that blunted HRV was not significant in patients with insomnia disorder.

The current evidence did not confirm that HRV was reliably impaired in patients with insomnia disorder. Prospective studies using standard HRV measures are needed to clarify the HRV dynamics in different insomnia subtypes.