A Case Control Study of Heart Rate Variability in Rheumatoid Arthritis female patients

Dr Sadhana Agrawal; Dr Jyotsna Shukla; Dr Deepak Goyal; Dr Suraj Prakash Indoria; Dr Aradhana Singh; Dr Arvind Kumar Shukla

Volume : VI, Issue : III, March - 2017

A Case Control Study of Heart Rate Variability in Rheumatoid Arthritis female patients

Dr Sadhana Agrawal, Dr Jyotsna Shukla, Dr Deepak Goyal, Dr Suraj Prakash Indoria, Dr Aradhana Singh, Dr Arvind Kumar Shukla

Abstract :

Background – In Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients� involvement of autonomic nervous system has rarely been studied¹.

Objective – Evaluation of cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) by the mean of heart rate variability (HRV) in RA patients.

Material and methods – 45 RA female patients (age group 35-45 years) along with 45 age and BMI matched female controls were evaluated by Frequency domain HRV parameters : TP (ms² ) ;LF (ms² ); HF (ms²); LF n.u. (%); HF n.u. ( %) and LF/HF ratio recorded by Polyrite D based on EKG. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software version 20 and Z-test was used to derive the level of significance.

Results – The mean TP (ms²) with p value < 0.05, mean HF (ms²) and mean HF n.u. (%) with p value <0.001 were found significantly lower whereas mean LF n.u. (%) and LF/HF ratio with p value<0.001were found significantly higher in RA patients as compared to control group.

Conclusion– Decreased Heart rate variability indicates deranged cardiovascular autonomic functions in RA patients.