Details:

• Alternative Title:
  Psychosom Med
• Personal Author:
  Slavish, Danica C. ; Ruggero, Camilo J. ; Schuler, Keke ; Schwartz, Joseph E. ; Luft, Benjamin ; ... More +

  Slavish, Danica C. ; Ruggero, Camilo J. ; Schuler, Keke ; Schwartz, Joseph E. ; Luft, Benjamin ; Kotov, Roman Less -
• Description:
  Objective:
  
  Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common, debilitating, and associated with increased risk for health problems, including cardiovascular disease (CVD). PTSD is related to poor autonomic function indicated by reduced heart rate variability (HRV). Yet very little work has tested the timescale or direction of these effects, given most evidence comes from cross-sectional studies. Documentation of when effects occur and in what direction can shed light on mechanisms of CVD risk and inform treatment. The present study of 169 World Trade Center (WTC) responders, oversampled for PTSD, tested how daily PTSD symptoms were associated with autonomic function as reflected through HRV.
  
  Methods:
  
  Participants (N=169) completed surveys of PTSD symptoms 3x/day at 5-hour intervals for 4 days while also wearing ambulatory monitors to record electrocardiograms to derive HRV (i.e., mean absolute value of successive differences [MAVSD] between beat-to-beat intervals).
  
  Results:
  
  HRV did not predict PTSD symptoms. However, PTSD symptoms during a 5-hour interval predicted reduced HRV at the next 5-hour interval (β = −0.09, 95% CI [−0.16, −0.02], p = .008). Results held adjusting for baseline age, current heart problems, and current PTSD diagnosis.
  
  Conclusions:
  
  Findings underscore growing awareness that PTSD symptoms are not static. Even their short-term fluctuations may affect cardiovascular functioning, which could have more severe impacts if disruption accumulates over time. Research is needed to determine if momentary interventions can halt increases in PTSD symptoms or mitigate their impact on cardiovascular health.
  
  
• Keywords:
  [+]

  Autonomic Nervous System Cardiovascular Diseases Cross-Sectional Studies Ecological Momentary Assessment First Responders Heart Rate Heart Rate Variability Humans Multilevel Modeling Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic World Trade Center
• Source:
  Psychosom Med. 86(1):30-36
• Pubmed ID:
  37982540
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC10841862
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  U01 OH010712/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U01 OH011321/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U01OH011321/ACL/ACL HHSUnited States/

  U01 OH010712/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U01 OH011321/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U01OH011321/ACL/ACL HHSUnited States/ Less -
• Volume:
  86
• Issue:
  1
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  [+]

  urn:sha-512:9638aad626ff22b036be6804bb5e953a010181600f0117448284fde49a4dedadef407a4c88bb75a4f102b27a38aea6cf4e8ce591d621516a7514d060e519bc0c
• File Type:

• Supporting Files:
  No Additional Files