DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2016.v04i09.045

Pages: 3392-3397

Previous studies have reported decreased heart rate variability in several diseases to be associated with increased cardiac risk including various anemias. The relation of heart rate variability with underlying factors causing anemia needs further elucidation. Thus this study was an attempt to find out and determine the strength of correlation between heart rate variability indices and hemoglobin concentration. The present study was conducted in the Upgraded Department of Physiology, S.M.S. Medical College, Jaipur on sixty healthy, life style matched young adult males aged 20-30 years, recruited from the employees and medical undergraduates. Hemoglobin estimation was done using Sahli’s method. HRV assessment was done by recording 5 minute electrocardiogram using RMS ECG 101 instrument and later analyzed by HRV Software Version 1.1. Correlation coefficient was calculated between various heart rate variability indices and haemoglobin concentration using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. All the time and frequency domain parameters correlated positively with hemoglobin concentration except the mean NN and LF norm. Only the total power (r=0.267; p<0.05) and HF band (r=0.283; p<0.05) of HRV showed statistically significant positive correlation with hemoglobin concentration in the healthy young adult males. Altered levels of hemoglobin concentrations lead to alteration of overall status of heart rate variability along with cardiac parasympathetic activity, subsequently putting anemic subjects with low hemoglobin at greater cardiac risk.