Comparative study of heart rate variability in offsprings of hypertensive and normotensiveparents

Abstract

Background: Hypertension is a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular and cerebro-vascular diseases. Heart rate variability(HRV) provides a window to understand the cardiac autonomic balance. Aims & Objectives : To find out any autonomic imbalance by analyzing heart rate variability in off springs of hypertension and non- hypertensive patients and to
find out co-relation of HRV with body mass index(BMI),body surface area(BSA)and blood pressure(BP). Material &
Methods : A cross-sectional (Observational) study was done among 150 students of 1
st M.B.B.S (aged 17-25 yrs) who were studying in Govt. Medical College Patiala .Study was divided into two groups consisting of 75 each.Group-1: consist of cases (75) whose parents were hypertensive either father or mother or both being hypertensive.Group-2: Consist of controls(75) whose parents were normotensive. Results : High Frequency Millisecond HF(ms2) caseswere 4.29 + 7.73 and in controls were 8.77 ± 17.61 HF(ms2) was found to be more in controls as compared to study group and the difference between two groups was statistically significant(p<0.05). The High Frequency Normalized Unit (HFnu) in cases was 30.96+ 13.30 and in control was 35.26 +10.42. HFnu was reduced in study group and the difference between two groups was statistically significant (p <0.05). Strong negative association of Very Low Frequency VLF (peak HZ) with diastolic blood pressurewas seen in cases.
Conclusions: Our study revealed that autonomic dysregulation was present at an early stage in offspring’s of hypertensive  parents. Hence it is mandatory to inculcate good habits to follow healthy life style to curtail the risk of developing hypertension. Thus HRV is the best tool to detect early changes in the cardio vascular diseases.