Heart rate variability in psychiatric disorders: Implications for cardiovascular risk

Background: The autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysregulation is a major risk factor of adverse cardiovascular (CV) events. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was as follows: (1) To determine heart rate variability (HRV) in physically healthy patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) as a primary diagnosis and their comparison with healthy controls. (2) To compare HRV in patients with MDD versus patients with GAD. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 120 volunteer subjects in the age group of 20–55 years comprising 80 patients, divided into two groups, 40 with MDD alone without comorbid illness and other 40 with GAD as a primary diagnosis along with 40 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were included using convenient sampling. Short-term electrocardiogram (