ACR Meeting Abstracts

ACR Meeting Abstracts

Abstract Number: 82

Cross-Sectional Analysis of Heart Rate Variability in Patients with Fibromyalgia (FM): Correlations with Baseline Clinical Measures

Adam Dziuba1, Nancy A. Lockhart2, Howard Schubiner3, Daniel J. Clauw4, David A. Williams5 and Mark A. Lumley2, 1Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 2Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 3Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 4Anesthesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 5Anesthseiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Meeting: 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

Date of first publication: September 29, 2015

Keywords:

Session Information

Date: Sunday, November 8, 2015

Title: Fibromyalgia, Soft Tissue Disorders, Regional and Specific Clinical Pain Syndromes Poster I

Session Type: ACR Poster Session A

Session Time: 9:00AM-11:00AM

Background/Purpose: Autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction is thought to play a role in the pathophysiology and symptoms of FM. Evaluation of the ANS may be done through heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. While HRV has been shown to be abnormal in patients with FM, this is the largest study to examine relationships between HRV measures and clinical measures.

Methods: 230 patients (Age: 49.1 ± 12.2, 94% female) meeting 1990 ACR fibromyalgia criteria who were part of a randomized control trial of psychological interventions also had assessments of HRV measures at baseline prior to randomization. HRV was obtained via 30-minute Holter monitor recording which included periods of supine positioning, orthostatic challenge, and experimental pain testing. Time domain and frequency domain measures of HRV were calculated and analyzed with CardioScan Premier 12 software (DM Software, Stateline, NV). Age, sex, race, BMI, along with comorbidities diabetes mellitus and hypertension were adjusted for during analyses.

Results:

At baseline, a time domain measure of greater HRV, as reflected by the square root of the mean of the sum of the differences between adjacent N-N intervals (RMSSD), was significantly correlated with better sleep quality and lower fatigue (β = -.15, p = .02 and β = -.129, p = .04, respectively). Frequency domain measures of greater HRV, as reflected by total low-frequency power (LF) and total high-frequency power (HF) were found to be significantly correlated with lower anxiety (β = -.13, p = .03 and β = -.14, p = .02, respectively), better sleep quality (β = -.13, p = .03 and β = -.15, p = .01, respectively), lower fatigue (β = -.13, p = .02 and β = -.14, p = .02, respectively), and better mental health (β = .16, p = .007 and β = .15, p = .01, respectively). Similar associations were demonstrated in the supine positioning and orthostatic challenge periods (p < .05 for each), with the exception of LF component in supine positioning correlation to anxiety (p = .11) and HF component of orthostatic challenge correlation to fatigue (p = .09). LF and HF components during the pain-testing period did not reveal significant associations with clinical measures (p > .05 for each).

Conclusion: This study demonstrates that better clinical status is associated with greater HRV in a population of patients with fibromyalgia. Further work is needed to clarify whether changes contribute to the pathogenesis of FM, are caused by the FM, or are epiphenomena.

Disclosure: A. Dziuba, None; N. A. Lockhart, None; H. Schubiner, None; D. J. Clauw, Abbott Laboratories, 5,Cerephex, 5,Eli Lilly and Company, 5,Forrest Laboratories, 5,Johnson & Johnson, 5,Merck Pharmaceuticals, 5,Pfizer Inc, 5,Purdue Pharma L.P., 5,Samumed, 5,Theravance, 5,Tonix, 5,UCB, 5,Zynerba, 5,Abbott Laboratories, 6,Cerephex, 6,Eli Lilly and Company, 6,Forest Laboratories, 6,Johnson & Johnson, 6,Merck Pharmaceuticals, 6,Pfizer Inc, 6,Purdue Pharma L.P., 6,Samumed, 6,Theravance, 6,Tonix, 6,UCB, 6,Zynerba, 6; D. A. Williams, Health Focus Inc., 5; M. A. Lumley, None.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Dziuba A, Lockhart NA, Schubiner H, Clauw DJ, Williams DA, Lumley MA. Cross-Sectional Analysis of Heart Rate Variability in Patients with Fibromyalgia (FM): Correlations with Baseline Clinical Measures [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2015; 67 (suppl 10). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/cross-sectional-analysis-of-heart-rate-variability-in-patients-with-fibromyalgia-fm-correlations-with-baseline-clinical-measures/. Accessed .

« Back to 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/cross-sectional-analysis-of-heart-rate-variability-in-patients-with-fibromyalgia-fm-correlations-with-baseline-clinical-measures/