Journal of International Psychiatry

[Abstract]Objective To analyze the relationship between anxiety and heart rate variability (HRV) of patients with coronary heart disease. Methods According to the total score of the Anxiety Self-Rating Scale (SAS), 104 patients with coronary heart disease in our hospital from March 2019 to September 2020 were divided into an anxiety-free group (n=34) and an anxiety group (n=70). The HRV index of each group of patients was detected by electrocardiogram, and the HRV and SAS levels of the two groups were compared. The anxiety group was divided into moderate to severe group (n=22) and mild group (n=48) based on SAS score, and the two groups were compared with SAS and HRV. The correlation between SAS score and HRV of patients with anxiety was analyzed by multiple linear regression. Results The HRV root mean square difference (rMSSD) of the anxiety-free group, the root mean square difference of the adjacent NN interval (rMSSD), and the proportion of the number of two adjacent normal cycles (PNN50) with a difference of more than 50ms were higher than those of the anxiety group. The SAS score was lower than that of the anxiety group (P<0.05). Among anxiety patients, the PNN50, rMSSD and SDNN of the moderate and severe group were lower than those of the mild group, and the SAS score was higher than that of the mild group. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that SAS and various HRV indicators There was a negative correlation between them, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion The HRV of patients with coronary heart disease is closely related to their anxiety state. HRV indicators such as rMSSD, PNN50 and SDNN are negatively correlated with their SAS scores. Therefore, clinical interventions are needed for patients with coronary heart disease with high SAS scores to prevent their sudden death.

[Keywords] coronary heart disease; anxiety; dynamic electrocardiogram; heart rate variability