Al Ameen Journal of Medical Sciences (Oct 2017)
Effect of body mass index on cardiac autonomic function in young adult females
Abstract
Background: Obesity is an independent modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease and a high incidence of autonomic nervous dysfunction has been reported in obese. Heart rate variability (HRV) has been used as a noninvasive tool to estimate cardiac autonomic activity. Objectives: The present study was conducted to understand the contribution of body mass index (BMI), an indicator of obesity, to sympathovagal imbalance (SVI), by short term analysis of HRV. Method: BMI and HRV indices i.e. frequency domain indices and time domain indices were assessed in two groups of 30 female subjects each within the age group of 18-23 years. Group 1 comprised of subjects having BMI between 18.5 and 24.99kg/m2 and group 2 comprised of subjects having BMI > 25kg/m². Unpaired students t test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were used for statistical analysis. Result: Indices of parasympathetic drive to the heart are decreased and the index of sympathetic activity is increased in group 2 subjects when compared to group 1 subjects although the difference is not statistically significant. The cardiac autonomic dysfunction in overweight individuals is due to sympathetic over activity and vagal inhibition. Conclusion: Cardiac autonomic dysfunction due to obesity can be assessed by analyzing heart rate variability.
