No relationship between generalised anxiety symptoms and cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction

Purpose: Patients with generalised anxiety symptoms generally complain of autonomic arousal symptoms. The present study examined the relationships between cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction and generalised anxiety symptoms. Methods: Fifty-five participants including patients with generalised anxiety symptoms (n = 32) and healthy volunteers who served as controls (n = 23) were selected for this study. All participants completed the 7-item Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) questionnaire and underwent autonomic function tests, including the Ewing test battery and heart rate variability (HRV) test. Results: Autonomic function parameters included low frequency (LF, 0.04–0.15 Hz) power of HRV, high frequency (HF, 0.15–0.4 Hz) power, power spectrum density (PSD), LF/HF ratio, 30:15 ratio, heart rate response to deep breathing, Valsalva ratio, root-mean square differences of successive R-R intervals (RMSSD), standard deviation of the NN interval (SDNN), stress index (SI) and the Alpha 1 index. There were no significant differences in these parameters between the participants with generalised anxiety symptoms and control participants. Conclusions: The result of this study suggests that there is no statistically significant relationship between generalised anxiety symptoms and cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction.