Heart Rate Variability: Pre-deployment Predictor of Post-deployment PTSD Symptoms

Author(s)

Jeffrey M Pyne
Joseph I Constans
Mark D Wiederhold
Douglas P. Gibson, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Timothy Kimbrell
Teresa L Kramer
Jeffery A Pitcock
Xiaotong Han
D Keith Williams
Don Chartrand
Richard N Gevirtz
James Spira
Brenda K Wiederhold
Rollin McCraty
Thomas R McCune

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Biological Psychology

ISSN

1873-6246

Publication Date

12-1-2016

Abstract

Heart rate variability is a physiological measure associated with autonomic nervous system activity. This study hypothesized that lower pre-deployment HRV would be associated with higher post-deployment post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Three-hundred-forty-three Army National Guard soldiers enrolled in the Warriors Achieving Resilience (WAR) study were analyzed. The primary outcome was PTSD symptom severity using the PTSD Checklist - Military version (PCL) measured at baseline, 3- and 12-month post-deployment. Heart rate variability predictor variables included: high frequency power (HF) and standard deviation of the normal cardiac inter-beat interval (SDNN). Generalized linear mixed models revealed that the pre-deployment PCL*ln(HF) interaction term was significant (p

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2016.10.008

Volume

121

Issue

Pt A

First Page

91

Last Page

98

PubMed ID

27773678

NSUWorks Citation

Pyne, J., Constans, J., Wiederhold, M., Gibson, D. P., Kimbrell, T., Kramer, T., Pitcock, J., Han, X., Williams, D., Chartrand, D., Gevirtz, R., Spira, J., Wiederhold, B., McCraty, R., McCune, T. (2016). Heart Rate Variability: Pre-deployment Predictor of Post-deployment PTSD Symptoms. Biological Psychology, 121(Pt A), 91-98.
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/1703