Abstract 11895: Decreased Heart Rate Variability Associated With Hopelessness in Patients With Ischemic Heart Disease

Hopelessness, a negative outlook and sense of helplessness toward the future, is present in 27-52% of patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD) and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Physiologic dynamics of hopelessness in patients with IHD are largely unknown. Purpose : To examine how stress adaptation, measured by high frequency (HF) heart rate variability (HRV), following an IHD event may be associated with hopelessness. Subgroup differences focusing on characteristics known to be associated with hopelessness and/or HRV will also be examined (i.e., IHD event, marital status, sex). Hypothesis : Decreased HF HRV will be associated with greater levels of hopelessness. Methods : Participants were enrolled while hospitalized for an IHD event after being identified as appropriate for HRV analysis (n=69). Two weeks after hospital discharge, participants wore a Polar H7 heart rate monitor for 10 minutes while supine for HRV data collection. A demographic questionnaire and State-Trait Hopelessness Scale were then completed. From the 10-minutes of HRV data, a 5-minute HRV segment with the least amount of artifact (<5%) was used for analysis. HRV data was log transformed to account for non-normality. Linear regression was used to assess the relationship between HRV and state hopelessness. Results : There was a moderate negative correlation between HF HRV and state hopelessness (r= -0.35, p=0.004). This remained significant in multivariable regression models when controlling for history of depression and factors known to influence HRV (i.e., time of day, age, and smoking status). No sex differences (Cohen’s d=-0.04, p=0.78) were observed for HF HRV, but persons who underwent bypass surgery had lower HF compared to those that did not (Cohen’s d=0.63, p=0.04). Due to high correlation with HF and root mean square of successive differences between normal heartbeats (rMSSD) and SD1 (r=0.85), patterns of association with hopelessness and those variables were similar throughout. Conclusion : Decreased HF was moderately correlated with increased state hopelessness following an IHD event. Assessing HRV in patients following an IHD event could provide promising evidence of a biomarker to assist in identifying patients at risk for hopelessness.