Heart rate variability and preoperative anxiety

Area of Science:

• Physiology
• Autonomic Nervous System Research
• Surgical Patient Monitoring

Background:

• Heart rate variability (HRV) analysis offers insights into autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity.
• Understanding the ANS response to preoperative anxiety is crucial for patient management.
• Previous research has explored HRV but specific correlations with preoperative anxiety require further elucidation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between preoperative anxiety levels and various heart rate variability indices.
• To determine if specific HRV parameters correlate with the degree of anxiety in patients awaiting day case surgery.

Main Methods:

• Power spectral analysis of heart rate variability was performed.
• HRV indices were correlated with patient-reported preoperative anxiety levels.
• Spearman correlation was used to assess the relationship between anxiety and HRV parameters in 32 surgical patients.

Main Results:

• No significant correlation was found between anxiety and mean heart rate.
• No correlation was observed between anxiety and the mid-frequency band power (0.05-0.15 Hz).
• A positive correlation (r = 0.4034) was found between increasing anxiety levels and the relative power of the higher frequency band (0.15-0.5 Hz).

Conclusions:

• Preoperative anxiety is associated with altered heart rate variability patterns.
• The increase in high-frequency power suggests a relative vagal predominance in the sympathovagal balance during heightened preoperative anxiety.
• These findings contribute to understanding the physiological stress response before surgery.